Ever since The Hunger Games franchise concluded in 2015, Lionsgate has been looking for a way to keep the cash cow going. And who can blame them? Unlike many other YA adaptations, this one stayed pretty consistent, earning nearly $3B through four films. Last year we learned they were taking steps to adapt the upcoming prequel novel by author Susan Collins, and now today they’re making it official by bringing in the director who knows these movies the best.
Francis Lawrence, director of The Hunger Games: Catching Fire and both Mockingjay films, will return to direct the upcoming prequel. Titled The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, it’s based on Collins’ latest novel which centers on an 18-year-old Coriolanus Snow, the man who would wreak havoc much later as President of Panem. Here’s the book synopsis:
It is the morning of the reaping that will kick off the tenth annual Hunger Games. In the Capitol, eighteen-year-old Coriolanus Snow is preparing for his one shot at glory as a mentor in the Games. The once-mighty house of Snow has fallen on hard times its fate hanging on the slender chance that Coriolanus will be able to outcharm, outwit, and outmaneuver his fellow students to mentor the winning tribute.
The odds are against him. He’s been given the humiliating assignment of mentoring the female tribute from District 12, the lowest of the low. Their fates are now completely intertwined — every choice Coriolanus makes could lead to favor, failure, and death. Inside the arena, it will be a fight to the death. Outside the arena, Coriolanus starts to feel for his doomed tribute . . . and must weigh his need to follow the rules against his desire to survive no matter what it takes.
The book will be published next month, then Collins and screenwriter Michael Arndt will work on the script. Arndt is probably best known for his Toy Story 3 screenplay, but he also wrote Catching Fire, so he’s familiar with this world of characters.
