by Jill Warnke
On November 17, 2023, the anticipated film “The Hunger Games: Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes” was released and exploded across all social media platforms. Despite being the least successful for the Lionsgate franchise, it has still produced a significant profit, reaching $200 million within just over 10 days of its release. Now, it has now earned more than $300 million worldwide.
“The Hunger Games: Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes” is the movie adaptation of Suzanne Collins’ book, “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes”, which is the prequel to the dystopian Hunger Games Trilogy. The movie is directed by Francis Lawrence from a screenplay by Michael Lesslie and Michael Arndt.
This prequel takes place 64 years before the events of the Hunger Games in the main series began and follows the 18-year old academy student, Panem Coriolanus Snow (played by Tom Blyth). Snow is assigned to mentor Lucy Gray Baird (played by Rachel Zegler), who is a resident from District 12 participating in the 10th annual Hunger Games.
The novelty of the Hunger Games is shown through the stark contrast of the games here compared to the games that would take place with Katniss Everdeen. Unlike in the trilogy, the 10th annual Hunger Games is shown in its raw form: a brutal display of children forced to kill each other as a form of twisted entertainment. However, it isn’t viewed as entertainment and many members of the Capitol refuse to even watch it. It goes to show how different the Hunger Games was in its earlier stages compared to the spectacle it’s depicted as in the main series.
Reading or watching the trilogy might contribute to richer experience for the viewer and would also help the viewer catch any easter eggs scattered throughout “The Hunger Games: A Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes”. That being said, this background knowledge isn’t needed to enjoy or understand the film and shouldn’t stop anyone from watching it.
The film is still playing in some theaters, but it was also released digitally on December 19th. It is now available to rent or purchase from home through services such as Prime Video, Apple TV, Google Play, and Vudu.
