"The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes" trailer released, showing Snow's younger days as a mentor in the tenth edition of the games

 

Lionsgate has released the first trailer for "The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes," a prequel to the original "Hunger Games" trilogy, which is set 64 years before the events of the first film. The upcoming movie tells the story of Coriolanus Snow, the Capitol President and main antagonist of the original trilogy, during his younger days as a mentor in the tenth edition of the Hunger Games. Snow has been looking for a chance at redemption since his once-proud lineage fell from grace in a post-war Capitol. The film is adapted from Suzanne Collins' 2020 novel and directed by Francis Lawrence, with a script by Michael Arndt and Michael Lesslie.

The trailer introduces Lucy Gray Baird, the tribute from District 12, and shows Snow and other Capitol youth being asked to mentor the competitors. Snow is caught between two forces of nature: the charming Lucy and the villainous Dr. Gaul, who describes the manipulative effects of The Hunger Games. The trailer also reveals some of the horrific contraptions Dr. Gaul has in store for the participants, including a tank of rainbow-colored snakes. The film also stars Viola Davis, Peter Dinklage, Jason Schwartzman, Hunter Schafer, and Burn Gorman.

Lawrence has previously alluded to the fact that Lucy's melodious singing voice adds a type of balance to the brutal world of Panem, and Snow believes that pairing up with her is a great idea. However, over the course of the film, Snow will be shaped by the two forces of nature, eventually becoming the antagonist we know from the original trilogy. "The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes" is set to release on November 17 in theaters worldwide.