This is not a drill! The wait is finally over for the new installment of the Hunger Games franchise, as The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is hitting our screens this week.
The movie is adapted from the spin-off novel to the best-selling dystopian adventure series by Suzanne Collins. The Hunger Games explores a society divided into factions, ruled by the Capitol that throws an annual event where tributes from each district must fight to the death until only one victor remains. The newest movie is a prequel to the beloved quartet, following the origin story of the villainous President Snow.
When is the new Hunger Games movie coming out in the UAE?
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes will premiere in the UAE and Saudi Arabia on Thursday, November 16 — much to the delight of fans as the last movie was released back in 2015. The movie is released in the same pre-Thanksgiving time window that there original movies were released.
What is The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes about?
The newest movie explores the origin story of President Snow, taking us back to the tenth games when an 18-year-old Coriolanus Snow is trying to redeem the reputation of the once-proud Snow family, which has fallen from grace in a post-war Capitol. With his livelihood threatened, Snow is reluctantly assigned to mentor Lucy Gray Baird, a tribute from the impoverished District 12.
But after Lucy Gray’s charm captivates the audience of the Capitol, Snow sees an opportunity to turn the odds in their favor and create a spectacle, setting the tone for all games to come. The film is adapted from Suzanne Collins’s 2020 prequel to her Hunger Games trilogy and is directed by Francis Lawrence, who directed three of the four original movies.
The cast
Although we’ll surely be longing for the OG cast, the new movie has a stellar lineup that we can’t help but be excited about. The star-studded cast includes rising stars Rachel Zegler and Tom Blyth as Lucy Gray Baird and Coriolanus Snow, EGOT winner Viola Davis as the Game Master, Euphoria Actress Hunter Schafer as Tigirs Snow, and Game of Thrones’s Peter Dinklage.
Via @balladofsongbirds on Instagram
Olivia Rodrigo to feature on the official soundtrack
Olivia Rodrigo will feature on the official movie soundtrack, with a new song titled Can’t Catch Me Now.
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes will be available in selected cinemas across the UAE and Saudi Arabia from Thursday, November 16.