The new “Hunger Games” novel, “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes,” will be adapted by director Francis Lawrence, screenwriter Michael Arndt and producer Nina Jacobson. Written by Suzanne Collins, the new book will be available for sale on 19 May in the US, Canada, the UK and Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand.
Four movie adaptations of Collins’ trilogy — “The Hunger Games,” “Catching Fire” and “Mockingjay” — earned nearly $3 billion in box office.
“From the beginning, they have treated the source material with great respect, honoring the thematic and narrative elements of the story, and assembling an incredible team both in front of and behind the camera. It’s such a pleasure to be reuniting with Nina, Francis, and Michael to adapt the novel to the screen, and having them share their remarkable talents, once again, with the world of Panem. I look forward to collaborating with them and all at Lionsgate as we bring The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes to theaters worldwide,” says Suzanne Collins.
The prequel movie will focus on Coriolanus Snow at the age of 18, years before he would become the tyrannical President of Panem. Young Coriolanus is handsome and charming, and though the Snow family has fallen on hard times, he sees a chance for a change in his fortunes when he is chosen to be a mentor for the Tenth Hunger Games… only to have his elation dashed when he is assigned to mentor the girl tribute from impoverished District 12.