The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and 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 The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins, it serves as a prequel to The Hunger Games (2012), and is the fifth installment in The Hunger Games film series. The film stars Tom Blyth, Rachel Zegler, Peter Dinklage, Jason Schwartzman, Hunter Schafer, Josh Andrés Rivera, and Viola Davis. Set 64 years before the events of the first film, its plot follows the events that lead a young Coriolanus Snow on the path to becoming the tyrannical leader of Panem, including his relationship with the Hunger Games District 12 tribute Lucy Gray Baird during the 10th Hunger Games.
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes premiered in Berlin on November 5, 2023, and was released theatrically in the United States on November 17, 2023, by Lionsgate Films. The film received mixed reviews from critics and was a financial success, grossing $337.4 million worldwide against a production budget of $100 million. After the films release, The Hunger Games film series became the 20th-highest-grossing film franchise of all time, having grossed $3.3 billion worldwide.
== Plot ==
In dystopian, war-ravaged Panem, Snow family patriarch, General Crassus Snow, dies in the First Rebellion between the Capitol and thirteen Districts. Years later, Crassus' son, Coriolanus, 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. Games creator and Academy dean, Casca Highbottom, advises the mentors to focus on entertainment rather than tributes winning. Coriolanus' wealthy friend and fellow mentor, Sejanus Plinth, resents the Games' cruelty. 
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 defiantly singing. Coriolanus earns Lucy Gray's trust accompanying her to the Capitol Zoo, where tributes are publicly caged. Another mentor, Arachne Crane, taunts her tribute, who kills her. Coriolanus promotes Lucy Gray to Capitol citizens, to Highbottom's displeasure, as he paired Coriolanus with a District 12 tribute to fail. 
Coriolanus proposes a sponsorship scheme to Head Gamemaker Dr. Volumnia Gaul: to increase ratings, Capitol viewers can monetarily support tributes. Coriolanus' academic partner, Clemensia Dovecote, claims credit for the proposal. Gaul places the proposal paper into a tank of genetically-modified snakes that attack only unfamiliar scents. When Clemensia is forced to retrieve it, the snakes severely bite her, confirming Coriolanus' sole authorship. 
While touring the arena, rebel bombs explode, killing several tributes and mentors. After Lucy Gray saves Coriolanus from debris, he gives her rat poison as a weapon and says she can hide in a bombed hole in the arena floor. In the initial bloodbath, Lucy Gray enters the hole with fellow District 12 tribute, Jessup. Sejanus sneaks into the arena and mourns his fallen tribute and former friend, Marcus. Gaul persuades Coriolanus to retrieve Sejanus. A tribute attacks them, but Coriolanus kills him. 
The president's son, Felix Ravinstill, dies from injuries sustained in the bombing. As revenge, Gaul releases the snakes into the arena, killing every remaining tribute but Lucy Gray; earlier, Coriolanus secretly put a handkerchief bearing her scent into the tank. Caving to public pressure, Gaul declares Lucy Gray the victor. Later, Highbottom confronts Coriolanus with the handkerchief and the rat poison, sentencing him to twenty years' Peacekeeper service. Coriolanus bribes an officer to transfer him to District 12, and Sejanus volunteers to join him. 
In District 12, Coriolanus and Sejanus visit a bar where Lucy Gray performs with the Covey, a formerly nomadic band; Coriolanus and Lucy reunite. Shortly after, Coriolanus is to transfer for officer training in District 2. Meanwhile, Sejanus becomes involved with the rebels. Coriolanus confronts Sejanus and records his admission using a jabberjay, sending it to Gaul. Coriolanus later finds Sejanus meeting with rebels Spruce, Lucy Gray's ex-boyfriend Billy Taupe, and Mayfair, Billy's new girlfriend. In the ensuing confrontation, Coriolanus fatally shoots Mayfair and Spruce kills Billy. Spruce hides the guns, but he and Sejanus are hanged for treason. 
Lucy Gray and Coriolanus flee north. Lucy Gray knows he killed two people, but he accidentally reveals a third (Sejanus), raising her suspicions. At a small cabin, Coriolanus finds the hidden weapons tying him to Mayfair's murder. Lucy Gray, distrusting Coriolanus knowing she could incriminate him, disappears into the woods. Coriolanus, pursuing her, is bitten and disoriented by a snake she laid as a trap. He blindly shoots his rifle after jabberjays mimic her voice, but her fate is left unknown. 
Coriolanus dumps the guns into the lake near the cabin. With no remaining witnesses, he returns to District 12. Rather than District 2, Coriolanus is sent to the Capitol, where 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. Highbottom tells Coriolanus he never intended the Games to become a reality; he drunkenly conceived the idea, but his friend, Crassus Snow, submitted it as their joint academic project. Highbottom abhorred the violence it caused and never forgave Crassus, turning to morphling and mistreating Coriolanus because he hated his father, blaming him for ensuring the Games' continued cruelty. Coriolanus slips poison into Highbottom's morphling vial, killing him and beginning his rise to power.
== Cast ==
==Production==
===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 or 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.
==Reception==
===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". NMEs 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.coms 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".
===Accolades===
Award 	Date of ceremony 	Category 	Recipients 	Result	
Alliance of Women Film Journalists 	January 4, 2024 	EDA Special Mention Awards 	The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes 	 	
Artios Awards 	March 7, 2024 	The Zeitgeist Award 	Debra Zane, Dylan Jury and Simone Bär (Location Casting)	 	
Costume Designers Guild Awards 	February 21, 2024	Excellence in Sci-Fi/Fantasy Film 	Trish Summerville 	 	
Costume Designers Guild Awards 	February 21, 2024	Excellence in Costume Illustration 	Oksana Nedavniaya 	 	
Hollywood Music in Media Awards 	November 15, 2023	Original Score – Sci-Fi/Fantasy Film 	James Newton Howard 	 	
Hollywood Music in Media Awards 	November 15, 2023	Original Song – Sci-Fi/Fantasy Film 	"Can't Catch Me Now" - Olivia Rodrigo and Dan Nigro 	 	
North Carolina Film Critics Association 	January 3, 2024 	Best Original Song 	"Can't Catch Me Now" - Olivia Rodrigo and Dan Nigro 	 	
North Carolina Film Critics Association 	January 3, 2024 	Ken Hanke Memorial Tar Heel Award 	Hunter Schafer 	 	
People's Choice Awards 	February 18, 2024	Action Movie of the Year 	The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes 	 	
People's Choice Awards 	February 18, 2024	Female Movie Star of the Year 	Viola Davis 	 	
People's Choice Awards 	February 18, 2024	Female Movie Star of the Year 	Rachel Zegler 	 	
People's Choice Awards 	February 18, 2024	Action Movie Star of the Year 	Viola Davis 	 	
People's Choice Awards 	February 18, 2024	Action Movie Star of the Year 	Rachel Zegler 	 	
Set Decorators Society of America Awards	February 13, 2024	Best Achievement in Décor/Design of a Science Fiction or Fantasy Feature Film 	Sabine Schaaf and Uli Hanisch 	 	
Society of Composers & Lyricists Awards 	February 13, 2024	Outstanding Original Song for a Dramatic or Documentary Visual Media Production	"Can't Catch Me Now" - Olivia Rodrigo and Dan Nigro 	 	
==See also==
*"Lucy Gray" 1799 poem by William Wordsworth, after which Lucy Gray Baird is named.
==External links ==
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==References ==
Category:2023 films
Category:2023 action films
Category:2023 science fiction films
Category:2020s English-language films
Category:2020s science fiction adventure films
Category:2020s science fiction drama films
Category:2020s science fiction thriller films
Category:2020s survival films
Category:American action films
Category:American dystopian films
Category:American post-apocalyptic films
Category:American science fiction adventure films
Category:American science fiction drama films
Category:American science fiction thriller films
Category:American survival films
Category:Films directed by Francis Lawrence
Category:Films with screenplays by Michael Arndt
Category:Lionsgate films
The Hunger Games
Category:Films shot in Poland
Category:2020s American films
Category:American prequel films
Category:Films starring Tom Blyth
Category:Films starring Rachel Zegler
Category:Films starring Hunter Schafer
Category:Films starring Jason Schwartzman
Category:Films starring Peter Dinklage
Category:Films starring Viola Davis
Category:Films starring Burn Gorman
Category:Films Starring Ashley Liao
Category:Films Starring Max Raphael
Category:Films Starring Zoe Renee