A new Hunger Games prequel movie is officially in the works

22 April 2020, 12:14

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By Katie Louise Smith

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes will focus on President Snow, 64 years before Katniss, as he mentors a tribute in the 10th Hunger Games.

Tributes, find your old Hunger Games merch and get ready to run to the cinema because it's officially been announced that a brand new Hunger Games movie is coming to the big screen.

It was announced back in 2019 that Suzanne Collins was set to write a brand new prequel story that would take place 64 years before Katniss Everdeen's tale. The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes will focus on a teenage Coriolanus Snow ("a far cry from the man we know he will become") as he is selected as a mentor for the District 12 female tribute in the 10th Hunger Games.

READ MORE: The Hunger Games prequel is about President Snow and fans already hate it

It's now been confirmed that Lionsgate will be adapting the book into a movie and it will be directed by Catching Fire and Mockingjay director Francis Lawrence.

Author Suzanne Collins previously confirmed that the prequel will be set during the "Dark Days", a period after the war where Panem struggles to get back on its feet.

The synopsis for The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes details what to expect, and it looks like we'll get to see another Hunger Games event play out in the movie too: "It is the morning of the reaping that will kick off the tenth annual Hunger Games. In the Capitol, eighteen-year-old Coriolanus Snow is preparing for his one shot at glory as a mentor in the Games.

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"The odds are against him. He’s been given the humiliating assignment of mentoring the female tribute from District 12, the lowest of the low. Their fates are now completely intertwined — every choice Coriolanus makes could lead to favor, failure, and death. Inside the arena, it will be a fight to the death. Outside the arena, Coriolanus starts to feel for his doomed tribute... and must weigh his need to follow the rules against his desire to survive no matter what it takes."

While a new Hunger Games movie is the news we've all been waiting for, the decision to focus on President Snow instead of other heroic characters, like fan favourite Mags, didn't initially go down well. One Twitter user wrote: "Of all the characters in The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins decided to humanise President Snow. Like we need another story about some tortured white boy. I hate it here."

But regardless of the storyline, the fact is this: We're getting a new Hunger Games story. We're getting new characters. It's being turned into a movie. And it's being directed by Francis Lawrence. See you at the Goddamn cornucopia, tributes.