New Hunger Games Movie

8 years after the series’ finale, the Hunger Games series makes its return to theaters with a prequel detailing the backstory of one of the most unpopular characters of the series, President Snow.

In theaters on November 17th, the Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes will premiere as the prequel to the widely popular Hunger Games series. 

“I’m really excited to watch the new movie with my friends,” says junior Addie Ziegler. “We’ve been talking about it for a couple of weeks.”

Set 64 years before Katniss Everdeen competes in the Hunger Games, the movie will follow the story of an 18-year old Coriolanus Snow, before becoming the president of Panem. He is selected to mentor a charming young girl, Lucy Gray Baird, from District 12. 

The Hunger Games, based off of the novel written by Suzanne Collins, was directed by Francis Lawrence and stars Jennifer Lawrence (coincidently no relation) as Katniss Everdeen. Quickly breaking box-office records, and grossing almost $3 billion worldwide, the movie became the 21st highest grossing movie of all time and became widely popular due to the vast number of genres it encompasses. Romance, suspense, science fiction, thriller, adventure. The list goes on and on. 

Originally debated on whether or not the prequel would be a single or two part installment, the director, Lawrence, ultimately decided on a single movie due to the fact that Mockingjay: Part 2 had the lowest interaction out of all four movies. He worried that a two-part movie would result in a decreased audience. 

In regards to the newest installment, Rachel Zegler will star as Lucy Gray Baird, alongside Tom Blythe, who will star as Coriolanus Snow. Zegler, who was previously fired from the live-action version of Snow White, has raised various concerns about the new movie. She is the subject of multiple controversies, and some have claimed that they will simply not watch the movie due to the fact that she is a part of it.