Kelcy Conroy
Anchor Staff Writer
“The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes,” the prequel to “The Hunger Games” franchise, has obtained an interim promotion agreement from the Screen Actors Guild - American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, or SAG-AFTRA. This will allow the film’s cast to promote the movie if they choose to if SAG-AFTRA’s strike continues.
“The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” is scheduled to be released in theaters on Nov. 17 by Lionsgate Films. Due to the SAG-AFTRA strike, movie companies that are a part of the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, or AMPTP, could not advertise their movies. Since Lionsgate is not a part of AMPTP, the movie was given the green light in the form of an interim agreement so that actors in the movie could promote it. It is projected to earn $50 million in the box office during its opening weekend in North America.
“The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” takes place 64 years before the events of the original three books and four movies. They follow a post-apocalyptic North America called Panem where each year, two tributes from each district are chosen to participate in the Hunger Games, a competition where contestants fight to the death. Tom Blyth stars as a young Coriolanus Snow, who is assigned to mentor Lucy Gray Baird, a tribute from the impoverished District 12 in the 10th annual Hunger Games. After Baird catches the attention of all of Panem when she defiantly begins singing during the ceremony in which she is chosen as tribute, Snow believes that he may be able to turn the odds of the game in their favor. Snow will later become the tyrannical president of Panem seen in the original trilogy.
The movie is based on Suzanne Collins’ prequel novel of the same name that was released in May 2020. Rachel Zegler stars alongside Blyth as Lucy Gray Baird. The cast also includes Peter Dinklage as Casca "Cas" Highbottom, the unintentional creator of the Hunger Games, Hunter Schafer as Tigris Snow, Snow’s older cousin and close confidante and RIC alum Viola Davis as Dr. Volumnia Gaul, the head gamemaker of the 10th Hunger Games and architect of their implementation.
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