Lionsgate's Hunger Games prequel movie, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, is expected to start filming in 2022. The YA book series created by Suzanne Collins became an incredibly successful franchise during the 2010s for Lionsgate. They starred Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen and, after splitting The Hunger Games: Mockingjay into two parts, the four movies earned more than $3 billion worldwide. This success guaranteed that more stories in the universe would be told at some point, especially on the big screen.
Development on a Hunger Games prequel novel was announced in 2019, with Lionsgate fast-tracking a movie adaptation with franchise director Francis Lawrence. The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes was released in book format in 2020, which gave fans of this universe a chance to learn about a young Coriolanus Snow before he became president of Panem. There hasn't been a lot of news on the status of the Hunger Games prequel movie adaptation, though, since the book was released. Thankfully, the latest update indicates that there should be plenty of news in the coming months.
Lionsgate motion picture group chairman, Joe Drake, revealed in the company's quarterly earnings call (via Deadline) that the studio's Hunger Games prequel movie is aiming to start production next year. The specific timeframe for the start of filming on The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is the first half of 2022. Drake said that the hope is for the movie to be released in theaters during the late 2023 fiscal year or early 2024 fiscal year. Lionsgate's fiscal year starts April 1, which likely puts The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes' release during the 2024 release calendar.
This information on The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes' movie adaptation is a welcome update for fans of the novel and overall franchise. With Francis Lawrence already onboard as the director and Michael Ardnt writing the script, Lionsgate's plans for production should mean some casting news could arrive soon. The biggest role the Hunger Games prequel movie needs to fill is that of a young Snow and finding someone who can believably play a younger Donald Sutherland. There are also key roles like Lucy Gray, Sejanus Plinth, and others that Lionsgate will need to fill.
As Lionsgate moves forward with the Hunger Games prequel movie, it will be fascinating to see what approach they take with the next chapter in the franchise. There aren't many opportunities for familiar characters to return based on the book, but even those who are featured won't be played by the same actors. Lionsgate cast relatively unknown actors for the original Hunger Games movies, so they could take the same approach when finding the next batch of leading characters. Meanwhile, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes has a very different setting to it than the story audiences are now familiar with, so the movie could make some changes to increase the action along the way. Regardless, it sounds like fans of the Hunger Games franchise won't have to wait too long for the next movie.
Source: Deadline