With just a teaser out in the world so far, the movie version of Suzanne Collins’ The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes — the prequel to the Hunger Games series, set six decades before the revolution sparked by Katniss Everdeen — has dropped some sparkle to remind you it’s on the way. Behold, this 24k new poster!
The hue matches that of the aforementioned teaser, which contained no footage of the actual movie but featured an abstract snowy (ahem) scene of a songbird and snake melting into brilliant gold, and asking the viewer to choose sides. The official synopsis is as follows: “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes follows a young Coriolanus (Tom Blyth) who is the last hope for his failing lineage, the once-proud Snow family that has fallen from grace in a post-war Capitol. With his livelihood threatened, Snow is reluctantly assigned to mentor Lucy Grey Baird (Rachel Zegler), a tribute from the impoverished District 12. But after Lucy Grey’s charm captivates the audience of Panem, Snow sees an opportunity to shift their fates. With everything he has worked for hanging in the balance, Snow unites with Lucy Grey to turn the odds in their favour. Battling his instincts for both good and evil, Snow sets out on a race against time to survive and reveal if he will ultimately become a songbird or a snake.”
With only the most cursory Hunger Games know-how, you can guess which way Snow ultimately went — not for nothing did President Snow, as played by Donald Sutherland in the main movie series, make Gizmodo’s list of “Most Blatantly Evil Presidents in Sci-Fi Movies, TV, and Comics.” The most suspenseful part of all of this just might be whether or not audiences are still hungering for more Hunger Games in the first place.
Directed by Hunger Games vet Francis Lawrence and adapted from Collins’ novel by Michael Lesslie (Assassin’s Creed) and Michael Arndt (Little Miss Sunshine, Toy Story 3, Star Wars: The Force Awakens), The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes stars Tom Blyth, Rachel Zegler, Peter Dinklage, Hunter Schafer, Josh Andrés Rivera, Jason Schwartzman, and Viola Davis. It’ll hit theatres November 16. Will you be checking out this Hunger Games origin tale, or staying on the sidelines?