The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes

The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakesis a 2023 Americandystopianaction filmdirected byFrancis Lawrencefrom a screenplay byMichael LesslieandMichael Arndt, based on the2020 novel of the same namebySuzanne Collins. It is a prequel toThe Hunger Games(2012) and the fifth installment inThe Hunger Gamesfranchise. The film starsTom Blyth,Rachel Zegler,Hunter Schafer,Jason Schwartzman,Peter Dinklage,Josh Andrés Rivera, andViola Davis. In the film,Coriolanus Snow(Blyth) is called on to mentorLucy Gray Baird(Zegler), a Games tribute, as he seeks to restore his family's prosperity inPanem.
Lionsgate FilmsCEOJon Feltheimerconfirmed futureHunger Gamesfilms would be produced if Collins wrote further installments. In 2019, the studio announced plans forSongbirds & Snakesand 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 andprincipal photographybegan that July and lasted until that November, with filming locations includingWrocław,Berlin, andLeipzig.
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakespremiered 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 $349 million worldwide against a production budget of $100 million, makingThe Hunger Gamesseries the20th-highest-grossing film franchiseof all time, having grossed $3.3 billion worldwide.
A sequel based onSunrise on the Reapingis set to be released November 20, 2026.
In war-ravagedPanem,Coriolanus Snowis one of twenty-four Academy students selected to mentor a 10th Annual Hunger Games tribute. Coriolanus hopes to win the Plinth Prize scholarship to restore his family's prosperity, which was lost after his father's death.
Coriolanus is assigned District 12's female tribute,Lucy Gray Baird. During the reaping ceremony, she engages the Capitol audience by slipping a snake down the dress of Mayor Lipp's daughter, Mayfair, then defiantly sings to the crowd. Coriolanus earns Lucy Gray's trust while accompanying her to theCapitol Zoo, where tributes are publicly caged. While a few mentors visit the tributes at the zoo, fellow mentor Arachne Crane is killed by her tribute, Brandy, who is immediately shot and killed by Peacekeepers.
While touring the game arena, rebel bombs explode, killing several tributes and mentors, including the President's son, Felix. After Lucy Gray saves Coriolanus from falling debris, he gives her rat poison as a weapon and says the bombings have opened tunnels in the arena, providing additional hiding places during the Games.
The Games commence the next morning, with Lucy Gray surviving the initial bloodbath and reuniting with Jessup, District 12's male tribute. Jessup later succumbs to a fall and from rabies. During the Games' last round, 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, showing a handkerchief dropped into the snake tank to recognize Lucy Gray's scent and his mother's compact filled with poison which Lucy used. Consequently, Highbottom sentences Coriolanus to 20 years as a Peacekeeper. Coriolanus bribes an officer to transfer him to District 12. Fellow Academy student Sejanus Plinth, who has grown disillusioned with the Capitol's ideals after seeing his tribute, Marcus, die, volunteers to join him.
In District 12, Coriolanus and Lucy Gray reunite. Shortly after witnessing a rebel's execution, 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 fortreason.
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 Head Gamemaker Dr. Volumnia Gaul reveals she procured his 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 he conceived the Hunger Games while he was drunk and has been traumatized ever since. Coriolanus poisons Dean Highbottom's drug stash, killing the latter and beginning his rise to power, while Lucy Gray's fate is left unknown.
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,and Konstantin Taffet as Clerk Carmine.
Michael Grecoand Daniela Grubert appear as Strabo Plinth and Mrs. Plinth, Sejanus' parents,while Carl Spencer and Scott Folan appear as Smiley and Beanpole, two peacekeepers sent by the Capitol to District 12.
In August 2017,LionsgateCEOJon Feltheimerexpressed interest in more stories inThe Hunger Gamesfilm series, but only with the approval of the author of the series, Suzanne Collins.
In June 2019,Joe Drake, chairman of theLionsgate Motion Picture Group, announced that the company was working with authorSuzanne Collinswith regards to anadaptationof the novelThe Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.By April 2020, Collins and Lionsgate confirmed that plans were underway for the film's development.Francis Lawrencewas later confirmed to direct, after doing so for the prior three films in the series sinceThe Hunger Games: Catching Fire. The screenplay was written by Collins,Michael ArndtandMichael Lesslie, withNina JacobsonandBrad Simpsonas producers along with Lawrence.Concerned over the book's length, Lawrence briefly considered to split the film in two parts like he did withThe Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1andThe 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.
In May 2022,Tom Blythwas cast as the young President Snow,withRachel Zegleras 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'sWest Side Storyalongside Zegler),Hunter SchaferandJason Schwartzmanwere cast.Peter Dinklagewas 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 thatViola Daviswas cast as Volumnia Gaul, the head gamemaker of the 10th annual Hunger Games.On September 16, 2022, more cast members were revealed, includingBurn GormanandFionnula Flanagan.
Filming began inWrocław,Poland, on July 11, 2022, and ended inBerlin,Germany, on November 5, 2022.Filming locations included theMonument to the Battle of the NationsinLeipzig,theStrausberger Platzand theOlympic Stadiumin Berlin and theCentennial Hallin Wrocław.Some scenes in the film were also shot in the "Landschaftspark Duisburg-Nord" inDuisburgin North Rhine-Westphalia,and areas aroundWałbrzych(Poland), includingBoguszów-Gorce;  a fragment of the trail leading to Chełmiec Mountain, and the lake inGrzędy.
The soundtrack forThe Ballad of Songbirds & Snakescontains the film's version of songs such as "The Hanging Tree", "Pure as the Driven Snow", which were live performed by Zegler, and produced byDave Cobb, which heavily drew fromAppalachian-country folk music.The official soundtrackThe Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes (Music From & Inspired By)was released on November 17, byGeffen Recordsfeaturing tracks performed by Zegler, as well as songs performed by establishedAmericanaandfolkartists, 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 byOlivia Rodrigo, was released on November 3.
In July 2022, composerJames Newton Howardconfirmed that he would return to score the film.Howard's score was released on November 17, 2023, bySony Classical Records.
On October 30, 2023, the film was given an interim agreement so that actors could promote it during the2023 SAG-AFTRA strike, since Lionsgate is not part of theAMPTP.
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakeshad its European premiere in Berlin, Germany on November 5, 2023,its world premiere at theBFI IMAXin London on November 9, 2023,and was released on November 16, in Europeand November 17, 2023, by Lionsgate Films.
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakeswas released on digital andVODon December 19, 2023.The film was released on4K Ultra HD Blu-ray,Blu-rayandDVDon February 13, 2024, byLionsgate Home Entertainment.
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakesgrossed $166.4 million in the United States and Canada, and $182.6 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $349 million.
In the United States and Canada,The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakeswas released alongsideNext Goal Wins,Trolls Band Together, andThanksgiving, 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 through the five-dayThanksgivingframe.The film finished in second place each of subsequent three weeks, with grosses of $14.5 million (finishing behind newcomerRenaissance: A Film by Beyoncé),$9.4 million (behind newcomerThe Boy and the Heron),and $5.8 million (behind newcomerWonka).In its sixth weekend the film made $3.5 million, and a total of $5.4 million over the four-dayChristmasframe, finishing in seventh.
On thereview aggregatorwebsiteRotten Tomatoes, 64% of 238 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.4/10. The website's consensus reads: "An outstanding cast and exciting story help makeThe Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakesa worthy return to Panem in spite of a rushed and somewhat frustrating ending."Metacritic, which uses aweighted average, assigned the film a score of 54 out of 100, based on 53 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.Audiences polled byCinemaScoregave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale, the lowest of the franchise, while those polled byPostTrakgave it an 87% overall positive score, with 70% saying they would definitely recommend the film.
Zoe Guy ofVulturereported that "some critics view the 158-minute spectacle as an overwrought snoozefest, while others argue thatBalladis 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 forIndieWire, David Ehrlich named the film both the bestyoung adultdystopianfilm and "by far" the strongest installment inThe Hunger Gamesfilm series, describing it as "the rare prequel that manages to stand on its own two feet andstillfeel taller than the other stories it's ultimately meant to support".RogerEbert.com'sChristy Lemirecomplimented the "subtlety of this supervillain origin story" and described Blyth's performance as Coriolanus Snow as "a star-making performance".Brian Truitt ofUSA Todaypraised it as "an enticing blend of dystopian action epic and musical drama that surpasses the previous films".In a negative review forThe Guardian,Peter Bradshawwrote 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 ofThe Independentcriticized 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 "yassificationof a future monster".
In June 2024, afteranother prequel novelwas announced, Lionsgate officially confirmed plans for a film adaptation. Francis Lawrence entered early negotiations to direct the movie. The plot will take place forty years afterThe Ballad of Songbirds & Snakesand twenty-four years prior the events ofThe Hunger Games; and will depict Panem and its 2nd Quarter Quell. The movie is scheduled for release on November 20, 2026.