Lionsgate and director Francis Lawrence won’t hold back when it comes to violence with the next film inThe Hunger Gamesuniverse,The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. Set decades before Katniss Everdeen was even born, only 10 years after the first war between The Capitol and the rest of the Districts from Panem ended, the story will show how different those first editions of the sadistic, bloodthirsty and twisted games organized by the government were. Centering on a young Coriolanus Snow trying to make his way up the pyramid of power that is the Capitol, the story dives deeper into the mythology of the whole universe, far from a new rebellion and the life in the Districts.
However, that doesn’t mean things won’t get violent. The original book trilogy and the four movies that were brought to the big screen were not particularly explicit when it came to violence or showing blood, but the message behind the story created by Suzanne Collins is definitely filled with barbarity, andThe Ballad of Songbirds and Snakeswill not be the exception. In a recent interview withEmpire Magazine, Francis Lawrence teased a real “bloodbath” for this new film, revealing that those violent scenes from the first moments of the 10th Hunger Games were some of the first ones Rachel Zegler had to shot:
“The opening of the games we call the bloodbath.And that’s exactly what she had to jump into right away. She was leaving [the set] bruised pretty much every day, but those fighter qualities came in.”
Related:The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes Sets New Record Within The Hunger Games Franchise
Alongside this latest insight from director Francis Lawrence, several new character posters have also now been released, putting the spotlight on the main players inThe Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes. Check them out below (viaFandango):
The main star of the original saga was Jennifer Lawrence’s Katniss Everdeen, a strong but introverted girl from District 12 who ended up going to the games in place of her littler sister, Primrose. Years before that, Katniss lost her father and had to provide for her family, venturing into the woods to hunt and get food. So while she’s a skilled hunter and a real survivor, killing people in the 74th Hunger Games and putting herself under the spotlight was not an easy task.
For Lucy Gray Baird, the character played by Zegler inThe Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes,things are a little different. Although Tom Blyth’s Coriolanus Snow is the real protagonist of the prequel, Lucy plays an essential role within the plot as the tribute Coriolanus has to mentor and prepare to face her fate inside the arena. While she’s not someone trained to kill, Lucy is an artist and loves being the center of attention, something Coriolanus learns to use in his favor.
Thus,The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakesexplores the transition of the Hunger Games from being simply a punishment against the Districts to being a real attraction and something that the most powerful members of the Capitol want to invest not only their time, but also their money. And Lucy’s attitude will be really important in that transformation.
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakesis scheduled to be released on July 16, 2025.
