Lionsgate announced the Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes release date for the upcoming Hunger Games prequel film during CinemaCon today.
A short teaser trailer, which didn’t show any footage from the upcoming film, showed off the date and stated, “The world will discover… who is a song… and who is a snake.” No cast was revealed, but a theatrical release date of November 17, 2023, was set. It is based on the prequel novel by Suzanne Collins, which was released in 2020.
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The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is set 64 years before the events of the trilogy, starting on the morning of the reaping of the Tenth Hunger Games where an 18-year-old Coriolanus Snow is assigned as the mentor for the tribute girl from the impoverished District 12.
“In this return to The Hunger Games, years before he would become the tyrannical President of Panem, 18-year-old Coriolanus Snow sees a chance for a change in fortunes when he is chosen to be a mentor to Lucy Gray Baird, the girl tribute from impoverished District 12,” says the official synopsis.
The film adaptation will be written by Oscar-winning-scribe Michael Arndt (Little Miss Sunshine), based on the treatment by Collins. Arndt is no stranger to the franchise as he previously served as one of the writers on 2013’s Catching Fire film.
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The Hunger Games prequel will be produced by Nina Jacobson, who produced the original series of films through Color Force alongside partner Brad Simpson, with Collins attached as an executive producer.
The film franchise consisting of four movies (The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, Mockingjay-Part 1, Mockingjay-Part 2) has earned a combined worldwide gross of nearly $3 billion