After nearly a decade away from the cinematic world of The Hunger Games, audiences will soon return to the dystopian landscape of the series with this fall’s prequel, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. It’s a book-to-screen adaptation of Suzanne Collins’ 2020 novel about the origins of Coriolanus Snow when he was a teen (and long before he was president) as he mentored a District 12 tribute during the 10th Hunger Games, played by Rachel Zegler. Ahead of its release, the film’s director teased how Zegler’s character is different from Jennifer Lawrence’s Katniss Everdeen, and I can tell he really gets the material.
Rachel Zegler is set to play Lucy Gray Baird, who is the female tribute for District 12, like Katniss Everdeen was, but over 60 years prior. The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes’ director, Francis Lawrence, who also helmed three out of the four original Hunger Games movies, contrasted the tributes recently, saying this:
