The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes release date, cast, trailer, and more

We will soon finally be returning to the dystopian world of Panem. After the roaring success of the Hunger Games movie franchise between 2012 and 2015, the latest addition — The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes — is coming! But when? We have the Hunger Games prequel’s release date, cast, trailer, and spoiler-free synopsis right here.

The Hunger Games prequel is set 64 years before the events of the original series, where we watched Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) become the face of a revolution after participating in a government-mandated, televised fight to the death.

What is The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes about?

Based on Suzanne Collins’ book of the same name, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes follows the villainous President Snow in his youth, long before he came to power as Panem’s dictator. The plot is centered around the 10th Hunger Games (during which Snow is an Academy student in the Capitol). He, as part of his academic career, is set up to be a mentor of a tribute. Said tribute comes in the form of Lucy Gray Baird, a young girl from District 12.

We will follow the two as they navigate the Games, spectacle, choice, morals, chaos, and a truly complex relationship.

Will Jennifer Lawrence be in The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes?

While promoting her new movie No Hard Feelings on Watch What Happens Live, Lawrence cleared up the rumor that she’d make a cameo as Katniss Everdeen’s grandmother in the prequel film. She’d cracked a joke asking, “Oh, ’cause I’m 49 in Hollywood years, huh,” and then answered that it isn’t true that she’ll be in the movie. However, it wouldn’t be a shock if fans did see footage from The Hunger Games trilogy in the prequel, tying the films together.

Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes star Rachel Zegler already paid homage to the original movies with a bow that was reminiscent of Katniss’ before the judges. The acting choice, which was an ad-lib, added an element to the story that now implies that Katniss would have known about Zegler’s character, Lucy Gray, making the same move.

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes cast

The cast of the movie is vast, with Tom Blyth (Billy the Kid) taking on Coriolanus Snow. Highly anticipated performances also come from EGOT legend Viola Davis as Head Gamesmaker Dr. Volumnia Gaul, Euphoria‘s Hunter Schafer as Snow’s cousin Tigris, and Peter Dinklage (Game of Thrones) as Casca Highbottom, the Academy Dean.

The cast, including the above, includes the following:

• Rachel Zegler as Lucy Gray Baird
• Tom Blyth as Coriolanus Snow
• Viola Davis as Dr. Gaul
• Hunter Schafer as Tigris
• Peter Dinklage as Casca Highbottom
• Jason Schwartzman as Lucky Flickerman
• Josh Andrés Rivera as Sejanus Plinth
• Fionnula Flanagan as Grandma’am, Snow’s strict grandmother
• Isobel Jesper Jones is Mayfair Lipp, the Mayor of District 12’s daughter
• Michael Greco as Strabo Plinth
• Daniela Grubert as Mrs. Plinth
• George Somner as Spruce

Mentors

• Flora Li Thiemann as Livia Carden (District 1)
• Athena Strates as Persephone Price (District 4)
• Max Raphael as Festus Creed (District 4)
• Ayomide Adegun as Pliny “Pup” Harrington (District 7)
• Amélie Hoeferle as Vipsania Sickle (District 7)
• Kaitlyn Akinpelumi as Domita Whimsiwick (District 10)
• Lilly Cooper as Arachne Crane (District 10)
• Ashley Liao as Clemensia Dovecote (District 11)
• Aamer Husain as Felix Ravinstill (District 11)
• Zoe Renee as Lysistrata Vickers (District 12)

Tributes

• Jerome Lance as Marcus (District 2)
• Cooper Dillon as Mizzen (District 4)
• Mackenzie Lansing as Coral (District 4)
• Irene Boehm as Lamina (District 7)
• Sofia Sanchez as Wovey (District 8)
• Knox Gibson as Bobbin (District 8)
• Luna Kuse as Brandy (District 10)
• Kjell Brutscheidt as Tanner (District 10)
• Dimitri Abold as Reaper (District 11)
• Luna Steeples as Dill (District 11)
• Nick Benson as Jessup (District 12)

Covey members

• Dakota Shapiro as Billy Taupe
• Honor Gillies as Barb Azure
• Eike Onyambu as Tam Amber
• Konstantin Taffet as Clerk Carmine
• Vaughan Reilly as Maude Ivory

Peacekeepers

• Burn Gorman as Commander Hoff
• Scott Folan as Beanpole
• Carl Spencer as Smiley

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes release date

The release date of the movie is later this year, November 17, 2023.

Where will The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes stream after theaters?

After the film finishes its theatrical window, it’ll likely go to STARZ first before having an exclusive run and then it’ll head to Peacock.

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes trailer

The Hunger Games prequel movie’s official trailer was released on April 27, following a playful scattering of GIFs across social media. The treasure hunt for all the small clips led fans to piece the story together in their heads, before the official video dropped. It was met by almost 4 million YouTube views in around 24 hours, clearly indicating an excitement! You can watch the trailer below.

The trailer has been met with buckets of online praise; for its accuracy to the novel source material, for its impeccable casting choices, and also for its ability to recreate the revolutionary feeling of the original Hunger Games film series. Rachel Zegler in particular has been applauded for her ability to parallel Jennifer Lawrence’s Katniss Everdeen with just a bow in the trailer — a moment which the actress confirmed was ad-libbed!

You’ll be able to catch the full cast of The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes in theaters soon. In the meantime, find out where you can watch the original series here.