'The Hunger Games' Prequel: Release Date, Trailer, And More

The upcoming Hunger Games prequel is set to finally hit theaters this fall, bringing audiences back to the dystopian world of Panem, vicious cops who look like knock-off stormtroopers, and, most importantly, the game that forces children to kill each other for sport. It’s also the same day that Trolls: Band Together hits theaters, so you have a very important choice to make.

The Hunger Games: Ballad Of Songbirds And Snakes will take place many years before Katniss & Co. took on the Capitol and its power-hungry inhabitants. Fans will get a good old-fashioned origin story for the worst character in the series, the evil Coriolanus Snow. It sure sounds uplifting! Here’s everything you need to know for this very dark and probably depressing prequel. Again…Trolls will be in the theaters next to you when you need them.

Plot

The Hunger Games: Ballad Of Songbirds And Snakes will take place 64 years before the events of The Hunger Games. Based on the prequel novel of the same name, the story will recount the rise of the villainous President Snow (played by Donald Sutherland in the initial series). Snow is now just a young gentleman who is looking to prove to his family that he has what it takes to lead. What is takes is apparently a lot of voilence. Here’s the official synopsis:

With the 10th annual Hunger Games fast approaching, the young Snow is alarmed when he is assigned to mentor Lucy Gray Baird, the girls tribute from impoverished District 12. But, after Lucy Gray commands all of Panem’s attention by defiantly singing during the reaping ceremony. Snow thinks he might be able to turn the odds in their favor. Uniting their instincts for showmanship and newfound political savvy, Snow and Lucy’s race against time to survive will ultimately reveal who is a songbird, and who is a snake.

Cast

Leading off the cast is West Side Story’s Rachel Zegler as Lucy Gray and Tom Blyth as Coriolanus Snow, who later becomes the main antagonist in the Hunger Games series. The film stars Viola Davis as Dr. Volumnia Gaul, Peter Dinklage as Casca Highbottom, Hunter Schafer as Tigris Snow, and Jason Schwartzman as Lucky Flickerman.