The Hunger Games Prequel Will Center on President Snow’s Origin Story

Last year, it was reported that Lionsgate, the home to the successful Hunger Games film franchise, is planning to develop a new film adaptation of author Suzanne Collins’ forthcoming The Hunger Games prequel novel titled The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. New details about the prequel’s plot and characters have finally been released (via EW), revealing that Collins’ new book will center around the origin story of The Hunger Games antagonist President Snow, who was portrayed by Emmy winner Donald Sutherland.

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes novel comes after 12 years since the first novel was published in 2008. It is scheduled to launch on May 19 and you can pre-order the book now by clicking here.

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In the prequel novel, the young Coriolanus Snow is described as “a teenager born to privilege but searching for something more… he’s friendly. He’s charming. And, for now anyway, he’s a hero”  which is a far different character from the evil dictator all fans have came to known in the previous novels and films.

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes will be set 64 years before the events of the trilogy, starting on the morning of the reaping of the Tenth Hunger Games where Coriolanus Snow is assigned as the mentor for the tribute girl from District 12.

“With this book, I wanted to explore the state of nature, who we are and what we perceive is required for our survival,” Collins said in a previous statement. “The reconstruction period 10 years after the war, commonly referred to as the Dark Days — as the country of Panem struggles back to its feet — provides fertile ground for characters to grapple with these questions and thereby define their views of humanity.”

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The original Hunger Games movies launched Jennifer Lawrence into international superstardom after the first film arrived in 2012 for her portrayal as Katniss Everdeen. Also starring Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Lenny Kravitz, Elizabeth Banks, Sam Claflin, Stanley Tucci and the late Philip Seymour Hoffman, The Hunger Games film franchise consisting of four movies (The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, Mockingjay-Part 1, Mockingjay-Part 2) had grossed over $2 billion worldwide. Get the whole series on Blu-Ray.

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