‘The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes’ Gets Full Trailer at CinemaCon

Ready to return to The Hunger Games?

Lionsgate has dropped the first official trailer for The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, the latest franchise installment based on Suzanne Collins’ prequel novel, a New York Times best-seller.

“Fans want to know and see the origins of this story,” said Lionsgate’s Adam Fogelson, vice chair motion picture group at CinemaCon, likening the project to prequels such as Wicked or Star Wars: The Phantom Menace.

The film stars Tom Blyth, Rachel Zegler, Peter Dinklage, Hunter Schafer, Josh Andrés Rivera, Jason Schwartzman and Viola Davis, for director Francis Lawrence.

The prequel’s logline from Lionsgate reads: “Years before he would become the tyrannical President of Panem, 18-year-old Coriolanus Snow (Blyth) is the last hope for his fading lineage, a once-proud family that has fallen from grace in a post-war Capitol. With the 10th annual Hunger Games fast approaching, the young Snow is alarmed when he is assigned to mentor Lucy Gray Baird (Zegler), the girl tribute from impoverished District 12. But, after Lucy Gray commands all of Panem’s attention by defiantly singing during the reaping ceremony, Snow thinks he might be able to turn the odds in their favor. Uniting their instincts for showmanship and newfound political savvy, Snow and Lucy’s race against time to survive will ultimately reveal who is a songbird and a snake.”

Franchise producers Nina Jacobson and Brad Simpson are producing the prequel alongside Lawrence, who helmed The Hunger Games: Catching Fire and Mockingjay – Part 1 and Part 2. Michael Arndt and Michael Lesslie adapted Collins’ novel. Collins, Jim Miller, Tim Palen and Mika Saito served as executive producers.

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes will hit theaters Nov. 17, 2023.