The Hunger Games Prequel, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, is set to start production in early 2022. Joe Drake, Lionsgate motion picture group chairman, commented on the film and said things were moving along well. The prequel is looking at a 2023 or 2024 release date.
According to Yahoo Entertainment news, most of the people previously involved with the franchise are returning. Francis Lawrence has signed on to direct. Producers Nina Jacobson and Brad Simpson are also on board. Hunger Games trilogy author Susan Collins will serve as executive producer and will write the film’s treatment, while Michael Arndt (Little Miss Sunshine) will adapt the screenplay.
Here is the synopsis for The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes: “The movie will focus on Coriolanus Snow at age 18, years before he would become the tyrannical President of Panem. Young Coriolanus is handsome and charming, and though the Snow family has fallen on hard times, he sees a chance for a change in his fortunes when he is chosen to be a mentor for the Tenth Hunger Games… only to have his elation dashed when he is assigned to mentor the girl tribute from impoverished District 12.”
The Hunger Games franchise earned $US3 ($4) billion dollars worldwide. In a time of the pandemic and streaming versus theatrical release wars, Drake states that he believes the audience will come.
“There’s an audience that wants to come back” to theatres, Drake affirmed. “I believe the market’s going to come back. … There’s going to be a strong, robust platform for us to monetise our movies.” Naturally, people are concerned with returning to theatres with several Covid-19 variants hitting the streets, but he thinks big brands still have the power to sway moviegoers.
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