In an attempt to explain dystopia, The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes continues to dig itself deeper into the political and moral knots that the original trilogy presented in 2008. The film trilogy began in 2012, and now we’ve got another addition to the franchise, which images a retrofuturism that feels at odds with the series to date. Take a look at the newest trailer.
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes is directed by Francis Lawrence, with a screenplay by Michael Lesslie and Michael Arndt, based on the novel by Suzanne Collins. It takes place 64 years before the events of the original series, but there are familiar characters—Coriolanus Snow (Tom Blyth), Panem’s ruling tyrant, appears as an 18-year-old university hopeful who is forced to take on a tribute as a sponsor. That tribute is Lucy Gray Baird (Rachel Zegler), a woman who, much like Katniss, captures the imaginations of Panem.
The book released to a mixed reception, although over time Ballad found its readership. A lot of the hangups of the novel—oddly consistent cliffhangers, morose interiority, strangely placed intradiagetic songs, and the constant, frustrating knowledge that we know how it all ends up for Snow—might not be present in the film, which already seems to understand the necessity of a tense and quickly paced story.
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes will release in theatres November 16.
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