“The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes”
This is how the new “Hunger Games” film will be
Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2.
© Studiocanal/Murray Close
A new Hunger Games film will be released in 2023. Everything you need to know about the fifth part of the series can be found here.
The “Hunger Games” film series, which was released between 2012 and 2015 and starred Jennifer Lawrence (32), grossed almost three billion US dollars at the worldwide box office. So it’s not surprising that a new part is scheduled to start in US cinemas on November 17, 2023, entitled “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes”. A novel by Suzanne Collins (60), who invented the totalitarian world of Panem with its life-threatening hunger games, is being adapted again.
The fifth “Panem” film takes place 64 years before the events of Katniss Everdeen. The tenth Hunger Games are taking place in the Capitol, the capital of the dystopian country. The later President Coriolanus Snow and Lucy Gray Baird, a young tribute from the poor twelfth district, from which Katniss also comes, are at the center of the plot.
The actors and their roles
British actor Tom Blyth (27) embodies 18-year-old Coriolanus Snow in the new prequel film. Charming and ruthless, Snow realizes he can use the great publicity of the Hunger Games to further his own political career in the Panem capital. Singer and actress Rachel Zegler (21) plays Lucy Gray Baird, who has to take part in the deadly Hunger Games. Snow is assigned to her as a mentor – and a tender love story develops between the two dissimilar characters.
Other well-known actors complete the cast of “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes”. “Game of Thrones” star Peter Dinklage (53) embodies the inventor of the Hunger Games with Casca Highbottom. Hunter Schafer (23), known from the HBO series “Euphoria”, is part of the party as stylist Tigris Snow. The character has appeared in the previous four films and is the future President’s cousin.
Oscar winner Viola Davis (57) plays the villain Dr. Volumnia Gaul. As a playmaker, she controls the Hunger Games – and makes life difficult for the participants. Her fellow actor Jason Schwartzman (42) embodies Lucky Flickerman, the presenter and announcer of the Hunger Games.
“The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes”: That’s what it’s about
Ten years after a devastating civil war, the Hunger Games are still a relatively young tradition in Panem. Coriolanus Snow arrives from the capital’s elite academy to mentor tribute Lucy Gray Baird through the tenth Hunger Games. At the same time, Snow is supposed to improve the deadly games. At her performance, the musical Lucy Gray sings and accompanies herself on the guitar. This is how she wins the hearts of the audience. Snow recognizes her potential – and the two cautiously begin a romantic relationship. Then comes the murderous Hunger Games and Lucy Gray has to fight for her life in the arena. Snow does his best to support them and lead them to victory.
Background to the new “Panem” film
“This is primarily a love story”, director Francis Lawrence (51) told the US magazine “Vanity Fair” in advance. The Vienna-born American is directing a “Panem” film for the fourth time. He has directed every installment in the series except for the 2012 franchise starter The Hunger Games. He describes the new female protagonist as “anti-Katniss”. Lucy Gray is “a musician, a performer and a charmer”. Coriolanus Snow had never met a woman like her before.
Meanwhile, the producing studio Lionsgate also published a first photo of the new “Hunger Games” partwhich shows Lucy Gray and Snow as lovers holding hands.
A first short teaser trailer is already available for the upcoming “Panem” film:
The fifth “Panem” film is being made in Europe
The shooting of “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” takes place in Germany and Poland. In Wroclaw, the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Centennial Hall, thought to represent a building in the capital of Panem, serves as an imposing backdrop. Attentive residents of Wroclaw discovered the production on site and shared pictures of the shooting on social networks and on fan sites.
The landscape park Duisburg-Nord also serves as a backdrop for the dystopian Panem. Filming is scheduled to take place here from August 15 to September 2, 2022. In late summer/autumn, production will then move to Berlin. The Film Faces agency is looking for more than 2,500 extras for thiswho are resident in Berlin and Brandenburg.