The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes

The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes is a 2023 American dystopian action film directed by Francis Lawrence from a screenplay by Michael Lesslie and Michael Arndt, based on the 2020 novel of the same name by Suzanne Collins. It is the fifth installment in The Hunger Games franchise and is a prequel to The Hunger Games (2012). The film stars Tom Blyth, Rachel Zegler, Peter Dinklage, Jason Schwartzman, Hunter Schafer, Josh Andrés Rivera, and Viola Davis. In the film, Coriolanus Snow (Blyth) is called on to mentor Lucy Gray Baird (Zegler), a Games tribute, as he seeks to restore his family's prosperity in Panem.

Lionsgate Films CEO Jon Feltheimer confirmed future Hunger Games films would be produced if Collins wrote further installments. In 2019, the studio announced plans for Songbirds & Snakes and official development on the film began a year later, with Lawrence returning as director and Leslie and Ardnt serving as screenwriters. Blyth and Zegler were cast in May 2022 and principal photography began that July and lasted until that November, with filming locations including Wrocław, Berlin, and Leipzig.

The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes premiered in Berlin on November 5, 2023, and was theatrically released in the United States on November 17. The film received mixed reviews from critics, with praise for its cast and story, but criticism for its execution. It grossed $337.4 million worldwide against a production budget of $100 million, making The Hunger Games series the 20th-highest-grossing film franchise of all time, having grossed $3.3 billion worldwide.

A sequel based on the forthcoming novel, Sunrise on the Reaping, is set to be released on November 20, 2026.

Plot
In war-ravaged Panem, Coriolanus Snow is one of twenty-four Academy students selected to mentor a 10th Annual Hunger Games tribute. Coriolanus hopes for the Plinth Prize scholarship to restore his family's prosperity, which was damaged after his father's death.

Coriolanus is assigned District 12's female tribute, Lucy Gray Baird. During the reaping ceremony, she engages Capitol viewers by slipping a snake down the dress of Mayor Lipp's daughter, Mayfair, then singing for the crowd. Coriolanus earns Lucy Gray's trust while accompanying her to the Capitol Zoo, where tributes are publicly caged. While a few of the mentors are visiting the tributes at the zoo, a Capitol student is killed by her tribute, who is then shot.

While touring the arena, rebel bombs explode, killing several tributes and mentors, including the President's son Felix. After Lucy Gray saves Coriolanus from the falling debris, he gives her rat poison as a weapon and says she can hide in a bombed hole in the arena floor.

During the last round of the Games, genetically modified snakes are dropped into the arena as revenge for Felix's death. With Coriolanus's help, Lucy Gray avoids being bitten and wins the Games. Afterwards, Dean Casca Highbottom accuses Coriolanus of cheating and shows him evidence proving so. Dean Highbottom sentences Coriolanus to 20 years' Peacekeeper service. Coriolanus bribes an officer to transfer him to District 12, and fellow Academy student Sejanus Plinth, who has grown disillusioned with the Capitol's ideals after seeing his tribute die, volunteers to join him.

In District 12, Coriolanus and Lucy Gray reunite. Shortly after witnessing an execution of a rebel, Coriolanus is to transfer for officer training in District 2. Coriolanus later finds Sejanus meeting with rebels Spruce, Billy Taupe (Lucy Gray's former love interest), and Mayfair. In the ensuing confrontation, Coriolanus fatally shoots Mayfair and Spruce kills Billy. Coriolanus allows a jabberjay to hear Sejanus' plans. Spruce hides the guns, but he and Sejanus are later hanged for treason.

Lucy Gray and Coriolanus flee north. At a small cabin, Coriolanus finds the hidden weapons tying him to Mayfair's murder. Lucy Gray, distrusting Coriolanus, disappears into the woods. After he is bitten by a snake and unsuccessfully tries to shoot Lucy Gray, Coriolanus dumps the guns into the lake near the cabin. With no remaining witnesses, he returns to District 12.

Coriolanus is sent to the Capitol, where Gamemaster Dr. Volumnia Gaul reveals she procured him a pardon and scholarship to the Capitol University. Sejanus' parents, unaware Coriolanus caused their son's death, make him their heir. Dean Highbottom tells Coriolanus that the Hunger Games was an idea he came up with while drunk, and has since been traumatized by. Coriolanus poisons Dean Highbottom's drug stash, killing the latter and beginning his rise to power, while Lucy Gray’s fate is left unknown.

Cast

 * Tom Blyth as Coriolanus "Coryo" Snow: A mentor for the upcoming 10th Hunger Games and future President of Panem
 * Dexter Sol Ansell as young Coriolanus
 * Rachel Zegler as Lucy Gray Baird: The female tribute from District 12 who forms a connection with Coriolanus, and a member of the Covey, a travelling musician group
 * Josh Andrés Rivera as Sejanus Plinth: A classmate and friend of Snow, and the mentor to a tribute from District 2, his former home
 * Viola Davis as Dr. Volumnia Gaul: The head gamemaker of the 10th Hunger Games and the person who implemented them
 * Peter Dinklage as Casca Highbottom: Dean of the academy and intellectual author of the Hunger Games
 * Jason Schwartzman as Lucretius "Lucky" Flickerman: The first television host for the 10th Hunger Games
 * Hunter Schafer as Tigris Snow: Coriolanus's older cousin and confidante. She would go on to become a stylist in the Games and an ally to Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2.
 * Rosa Gotzler as young Tigris
 * Fionnula Flanagan as Grandma'am: Coriolanus and Tigris's grandmother
 * Burn Gorman as Commander Hoff: The leader of the Peacekeepers in District 12


 * Additional mentors
 * Ashley Liao as Clemensia Dovecote: A classmate and friend of Snow, and a mentor to a tribute from District 11
 * Max Raphael as Festus Creed: A classmate of Snow, and mentor to a tribute from District 4
 * Zoe Renee as Lysistrata Vickers: A classmate of Snow, and mentor of the other District 12 tribute, Jessup
 * Aamer Husain as Felix Ravinstill: A classmate of Snow, son of the President of Panem, and mentor to a tribute from District 11
 * Lilly Cooper as Arachne Crane: A classmate of Snow, and a mentor to a tribute from District 10
 * Ayomide Adegun as Pup Harrington: A classmate of Snow, and a mentor to a tribute from District 7
 * Amélie Hoeferle as Vipsania Sickle: A classmate of Snow, and a mentor to a tribute from District 7


 * Additional tributes
 * Nick Benson as Jessup: The male tribute from District 12 alongside Lucy Gray
 * Mackenzie Lansing as Coral: The female tribute from District 4 and leader of "the Pack". Coral's role from the books was expanded to fit the film's plot.
 * Cooper Dillon as Mizzen: The male tribute from District 4
 * Hiroki Berrecloth as Treech: The male tribute from District 7
 * Kjell Brutscheidt as Tanner: The male tribute from District 10
 * Dimitri Abold as Reaper: The male tribute from District 11
 * Irene Boehm as Lamina: The female tribute from District 7
 * Sofia Sanchez as Wovey: The young female tribute from District 8
 * Knox Gibson as Bobbin: The male tribute from District 8
 * Luna Steeples as Dill: The female tribute from District 11
 * Luna Kuse as Brandy: The female tribute from District 10
 * Jerome Lance as Marcus: The male tribute from District 2

Other additional cast:

Dakota Shapiro plays Billy Taupe, Lucy Gray's former love interest and a former member of the Covey. Isobel Jesper Jones plays Mayfair Lipp, the daughter of District 12's mayor, a rival of Lucy Gray, and Billy Taupe's new girlfriend. George Somner plays Spruce, a rebel citizen from District 12.

Other members of Lucy Gray's travelling musician group, the Covey, include:

Vaughan Reilly as Maude Ivory, Honor Gillies as Barb Azure, Eike Onyambu as Tam Amber, Konstantin Taffet as Clerk Carmine.

Michael Greco and Daniela Grubert appear as Strabo Plinth and Mrs. Plinth, Sejanus' parents, Carl Spencer and Scott Folan appear as Smiley and Beanpole, two peacekeepers sent by the Capitol to District 12.

Archival audio of Donald Sutherland as President Coriolanus Snow from The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1 is played before the credits.

Development


In August 2017, Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer expressed interest in more stories in The Hunger Games film series, but only with the approval of the author of the series, Suzanne Collins.

In June 2019, Joe Drake, chairman of the Lionsgate Motion Picture Group, announced that the company was working with author Suzanne Collins with regards to an adaptation of the novel The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. By April 2020, Collins and Lionsgate confirmed that plans were underway for the film's development. Francis Lawrence was later confirmed to direct, after doing so for the prior three films in the series since The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. The screenplay was written by Collins, Michael Arndt and Michael Lesslie, with Nina Jacobson and Brad Simpson as producers along with Lawrence. Concerned over the book's length, Lawrence briefly considered to split the film in two parts like he did with The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2, but abandoned the idea to do so, due to his regrets over that decision. Jacobson felt that the finished film had a "daunting" length but feels that it "really goes by so fast". Collins, in addition, would serve as an executive producer on the film.

Casting
In May 2022, Tom Blyth was cast as the young President Snow, with Rachel Zegler as his protégée, tribute Lucy Gray Baird. Zegler was originally offered the role in January, but initially turned it down before later changing her mind. In June 2022, Josh Andrés Rivera (who previously starred in 2021's West Side Story alongside Zegler), Hunter Schafer and Jason Schwartzman were cast. Peter Dinklage was cast in the following month. Throughout June and July 2022, the cast was rounded out with actors portraying the film's multiple tributes and mentors. On August 15, 2022, it was reported that Viola Davis was cast as Volumnia Gaul, the head gamemaker of the 10th annual Hunger Games. On September 16, 2022, more cast members were revealed, including Burn Gorman and Fionnula Flanagan.

Filming
Filming began in Wrocław, Poland, on July 11, 2022, and ended in Berlin, Germany, on November 5, 2022. Filming locations included the Monument to the Battle of the Nations in Leipzig, the Strausberger Platz and the Olympic Stadium in Berlin and the Centennial Hall in Wrocław. Some scenes in the film were also shot in the "Landschaftspark Duisburg-Nord" in Duisburg in North Rhine-Westphalia, and areas around Wałbrzych (Poland), including Boguszów-Gorce; a fragment of the trail leading to Chełmiec Mountain, and the lake in Grzędy.

Music
The soundtrack for The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes contains the film's version of songs such as "The Hanging Tree", "Pure as the Driven Snow", which were live performed by Zegler, and produced by Dave Cobb, which heavily drew from Appalachian-country folk music. The official soundtrack The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes (Music From & Inspired By) was released on November 17, by Geffen Records featuring tracks performed by Zegler, as well as songs performed by established Americana and folk artists, and was led by two singles: "The Hanging Tree (Lucy Gray's version)" was released on October 20, 2023, and "Can't Catch Me Now", performed by Olivia Rodrigo, was released on November 3.

In July 2022, composer James Newton Howard confirmed that he would return to score the film. Howard's score was released on November 17, 2023, by Sony Classical Records.

Marketing
On October 30, 2023, the film was given an interim agreement so that actors could promote it during the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike, since Lionsgate is not part of the AMPTP.

Release
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes had its European premiere in Berlin, Germany on November 5, 2023, its world premiere at the BFI IMAX in London on November 9, 2023, and was released on November 16, in Europe and November 17, 2023, by Lionsgate Films.

Home media
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes was released on digital and VOD on December 19, 2023. The film was released on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray, Blu-ray and DVD on February 13, 2024, by Lionsgate Home Entertainment.

Box office
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes grossed $166.4 million in the United States and Canada, and $171 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $337.4 million.

In the United States and Canada, The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes was released alongside Next Goal Wins, Trolls Band Together, and Thanksgiving, and was projected to gross around $50 million from 3,776 theaters in its opening weekend, with some industry estimates going as low as $45 million or as high as $60 million. The film made $19.1 million on its first day, $5.75 million from Thursday night previews. It went on to debut to $44 million, topping the box office but marking the lowest start of the franchise. The film made $29 million in its second weekend (a drop of 35%, the smallest of both the franchise and of any blockbuster in 2023), remaining in first. The film finished in second place each of subsequent three weeks, with grosses of $14.5 million (finishing behind newcomer Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé), $9.4 million (behind newcomer The Boy and the Heron), and $5.8 million (behind newcomer Wonka). In its sixth weekend the film made $3.5 million, and a total of $5.4 million over the four-day Christmas frame, finishing in seventh.

Critical response
Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale, the lowest of the franchise, while those polled by PostTrak gave it an 87% overall positive score, with 70% saying they would definitely recommend the film.

Zoe Guy of Vulture reported that "some critics view the 158-minute spectacle as an overwrought snoozefest, while others argue that Ballad is the most satisfying entry in the entire franchise". NME's Alex Berry meanwhile characterised the initial critical response as "largely negative", noting that "the film has been criticised as lacking in the excitement and drama promised by the trailer, and not living up to the expectation following the first films".

Writing for IndieWire, David Ehrlich named the film both the best young adult dystopian film and "by far" the strongest installment in The Hunger Games film series, describing it as "the rare prequel that manages to stand on its own two feet and still feel taller than the other stories it's ultimately meant to support". RogerEbert.com's Christy Lemire complimented the "subtlety of this supervillain origin story" and described Blyth's performance as Coriolanus Snow as "a star-making performance". Brian Truitt of USA Today praised it as "an enticing blend of dystopian action epic and musical drama that surpasses the previous films". In a negative review for The Guardian, Peter Bradshaw wrote that "the interest, dramatic momentum and energy" of the franchise "have frankly expired", concluding that "this movie finally ties itself into various knots to prefigure the later world of Katniss, but the time to end the Games came long ago". Clarisse Loughrey of The Independent criticized the film for "[squandering] the anger of novelist Suzanne Collins's source material" and "[diluting] its biggest villain", further deriding Snow's characterization as a "yassification of a future monster".