Lionsgate launches first movie trailer for ‘The Hunger Games’ prequel

Hunger Games fans rejoice! Lionsgate has released the first official trailer for its upcoming sequel, The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, which showcased an era in Panem before the events of the 74th Hunger Games.

The trailer showcases a different Panem, where the games were more brutal and still being worked on by the gamemakers. At the same time, it features a young Coriolanus Snow, played by Tom Blyth, alongside Rachel Zegler as Lucy Gray Baird. The trailer ends with a line from a grown-up President Snow that was originally said in The Hunger Games: Mockingjay: Part 1, which perfectly frames Snow’s evolution into the person he becomes in the main trilogy.

Alongside a trailer, an official poster was released which featured the young president and the District 12 tribute for the upcoming games. These two promotional items were first showcased at this year’s CinemaCon before it was made available to the public.

The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes takes place 10 years after the first rebellion in Panem and the Treason was signed. The film featured a brand new cast, including Viola Davis as Dr. Volumnia Gaul, Peter Dinklage as Casca Highbottom, characters who were ancestors of the people we see in the main trilogy. The book version of this film was published back in May 2020, and early previews for the movie were first showcased during 2022’s CinemaCon. 

If you’re excited to witness history and learn how The Hunger Games became the spectacle we see in the main trilogy, The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes will be released on Nov. 17, 2023.