Tom Blyth will play young President Snow in Hunger Games prequel movie

The last Hunger Games movie — The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 — came out in 2015, and ended the series on something of a weak note. It made the least money out of any of the Hunger Games movies, especially domestically. That might have something to do with Lionsgate splitting the final book into two movies, which was all the rage at the time.

But the studio is heading back to the post-apocalyptic world of Panem with The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, based on the 2020 book of the same name by Hunger Games author Suzanne Collins. This one is set generations before the Jennifer Lawrence blockbusters, back when the dictatorial President Snow (Donald Sutherland) is a teenager trying to save his upper crust family from falling down the social ladder. And now, Entertainment Weekly reveals that Billy the Kid star Tom Blyth will play the lead role.

The Hunger Games prequel movie is about a young President Snow

Here’s the official synopsis for the film:

"Years before he would become the tyrannical President of Panem, 18-year-old Coriolanus Snow is the last hope for his fading lineage, a once-proud family that has fallen from grace in a post-war Capitol. With the 10th annual Hunger Games fast approaching, the young Snow is alarmed when he is assigned to mentor Lucy Gray Baird, the girl tribute from impoverished District 12.But, after Lucy Gray commands all of Panem’s attention by defiantly singing during the reaping ceremony, Snow thinks he might be able to turn the odds in their favor. Uniting their instincts for showmanship and newfound political savvy, Snow and Lucy’s race against time to survive will ultimately reveal who is a songbird, and who is a snake."

The new film will be directed by Francis Lawrence, who helmed every Hunger Games movie save the first. “Coriolanus Snow is many things — a survivor, a loyal friend, a cutthroat, a kid quick to fall in love, and a young man ambitious to his core,” Lawrence said in a statement. “Tom’s take on the character showed us all the complex ambiguities of this young man as he transforms into the tyrant he would become.”

The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes is due out in theaters on November 17, 2023. Anyone out there interested in returning to this world?

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