The Hunger Games director Francis Lawrence is coming back to Panem to adapt Suzanne Collins’ prequel novel, all about a young President Snow.
It’s been a while since fans of The Hunger Games have seen Panem brought to life on the big screen, but the odds were in our favor when Lionsgate announced that Suzanne Collins’ prequel novel, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, had been greenlit for a film adaptation before it even hit shelves in May.
And fans of Collins’ first series weren’t the only ones celebrating the release of another Hunger Games movie. Francis Lawrence, who directed the original series of films, was particularly excited to learn there was another story on the way, even before he delved into the newest novel. During an interview with Discussing Film, Lawrence talked about what a great experience he had working on the previous films, and explained that he’d been waiting for the right opportunity to return to Panem.
“I had a great time doing three out of the four movies,” Lawrence explained (the original movie was directed by Gary Ross). “It’s a great group of people, I love Suzanne Collins and I love the world. … I was always eager to get back into the world, but I just wanted to make sure that it came from an organic place and for me, that’s always from Suzanne, as opposed to a studio sort of urging everybody to come up with a sequel or prequel.”
It sounds like The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes was precisely what Lawrence had been waiting for, and after reading the book, he’s looking forward to digging into the story of how Coriolanus Snow became the president we all know and fear from the original movies. He pointed to the book’s present-day relevance, something it has in common with Katniss’ adventures (even if this tale is told from a very different perspective).
“When I heard that she was writing a book, I got really excited,” Lawrence said. “She called me before it was released and filled me in a little bit about what it was about, but she didn’t want to spoil anything so that I would enjoy the read. When she was done working with her editors, she she sent it over to her agent’s office here in LA and I went in and read it over the course of two days in this office and just loved it. I loved the story, I love what it’s about, and I love how relevant it is. She’s always really good at that.”
"She’s a really fun writer in terms of twists and page turn-ability of her books, so that was great. The characters are awesome and it’s really exciting to dive back into a different, earlier version of the world and for the most part with a bunch of new characters. So yeah, really exciting and the script is progressing really well!"
Knowing that writing for the film is already underway gives fans something to look forward to, even if it’s likely to be a while before we actually get to see it onscreen.
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