The prequel to the saga The Hunger Games could hit the movies in 2023. Production company Lionsgate is working hard to make The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes hit the big screen as soon as possible.
According to reported Joe Drake, president of the production company’s motion picture division, the adaptation began pre-production this year. This means that its production and subsequent filming will most likely begin in the middle of the 2022.
Lionsgate plans to release the film, based on the Suzanne Collins book of the same name, as a film independent of the sequel. In 2020, even before its official release, Lionsgate announced its intentions to adapt the story.
But unlike the successful movie franchise, the intention is to create a independent film that can work without depending on the rest of the story. It will also have as a caveat, as in the novel, the fact that it will tell the story of the evil President Snow. The premise allows not only that the argument can allow a new vision of the universe. Also, that it delves into something more than the central knot of the rest of the franchise: the survival of a dictatorial regime.
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is set 64 years before the original trilogy. But in a clever twist, Collins took his most iconic villain and took a different look at his life. In the story, Snow is already the mentor of a female tribute from District 12. He is the one who will lead their training with a view to the celebration of the 10th anniversary of the The Hunger Games.
In fact, the book begins on harvest morning, an event that fans of The Hunger Games know very well. But instead of being the narration of one of the victims, now it will be from a privileged point of view. The novelty made the book a success and made readers rethink all the information they had so far about Snow.
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, a twist to evil
Lionsgate announced that Francis Lawrence, who was in charge of three of the four films in the saga, will return to the director’s chair. It is clear, then, that they are trying to recreate the universe of the franchise again. At least in a broader and much deeper version of what the previous saga could achieve.
The whole premise of The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes it obeys the perception of a meticulous journey through the world of Collins. “We see the evolution of Snow and that is interesting. But for me, the most interesting part was watching Panem evolve and watching the Hunger Games in its 10th year and seeing how rudimentary they were, “said editor David Levithan last year.
The person responsible for the publication of the book insisted that it was not a new part of the known story, but another more sinister. “When you see them in the trilogy, you come to an unavoidable conclusion. The Hunger Games is evil and punitive. But seeing the forces that drove it into existence, that was fascinating to me. There are lessons to be learned about human nature and about societies and governments that we would really do well to listen to. “
“At first, everyone thought it was going to be the story of a fallen angel, that Snow was going to be a hero and then something happens and it turns bad,” Levithan added. “What Suzanne shows is that it is much more complicated than that. His personality was what it was, but they were external forces the ones that amplify the parts of who you are or help you go in a different direction. You see a tug of war in this book. “
A grown-up look at a haunting story
For Lionsgate, it’s also about providing a adult tone to your most profitable franchise. In The Hunger Games, the perception of fear from a youthful and reactionary point of view, was everything. But nevertheless, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes promises to be a hybrid between speculative science fiction, dystopia, and criticism disguised as tragedy.
Until now, Suzanne Collins was considered part of the teenage science fiction and fantasy phenomenon. But The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes makes it clear that the author evolved towards a type of analysis and philosophical reflection. So does its cruel president Snow, who has become the symbol of a contemporary type of evil. Something that the future film will try to capture in all its depth.