Intro

Seven years have passed since "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2" was released, the final film about the Hunger Games and Katniss Everdeen. Those who feared that this would mean the end of the stories from Panem can rejoice, as a fifth part of the film series is coming in 2023. Book readers among you will already know the story of "The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes". But also for those of you who haven't read the book, today we'll take a look at all the details concerning the cast, production and plot of the movie adaptation.

History of Panem

Before we get into the specifics of the new film, here's a quick rundown on Panem and the continent's history. Panem describes the post-apocalyptic continent of North America, which was formed by natural disasters on the one hand and a fierce war for raw materials on the other. It is divided into 13 districts. Where today we would find Utah, Colorado and Wyoming, the Capitol rules over the other 12 districts. Each district has its own industry such as the production of clothing, food or electricity. They must cede these to the Capitol. However, as the Districts rise up in rebellion against the Capitol, District 13 is completely annihilated and the others are forced to surrender to the Capitol's supremacy. Or at least that's what the Capitol's propaganda says. In reality, the inhabitants of District 13 are hiding underground and preparing for a new rebellion against the Capitol. In order to demonstrate its superiority over the other districts, the Capitol holds the annual Hunger Games. In these, two children from each district are chosen and must compete against the other children in a cruel competition to the death. Yet, these battles end up being the catalyst for the renewed rebellion that we see in the film series centered around Katniss Everdeen. "The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes", however, plays 64 years before the events that we know from the first four movies.

Cast

Currently, there are already some names in the cast list of the new film. Since the characters will once again be very young, we will see a fair number of newcomers, though there will also be some familiar Hollywood stars.

Lucy Gray Baird

The first protagonist is Lucy Gray Baird. Like Katniss, she is from District 12 and was chosen as tribute for the 10th Hunger Games. What is unique about this is her love affair with Coriolanus Snow. Yes, that's right: Snow. The latter eventually becomes the infamous President Snow. Lucy loves to produce music with her band "Covey" and this talent also helps her to find rich sponsors for the Hunger Games. The role of Lucy is played by Rachel Zegler. The 21-year-old actress made her big breakthrough in Hollywood in the part of Maria in the musical film "West Side Story" in 2021. Whether or not she will survive the Hunger Games is something we won't reveal here, of course.

Coriolanus Snow

However, not everything will be about Lucy. One more main character is the aforementioned Coriolanus Snow. The future tyrant was not always as cold-hearted and brutal as in the past installments. Snow is a mere 18 years old during the movie's time, and his cousin describes him as a compassionate and kind-hearted person. Yet, he quickly realizes his ability to figure out people and starts to use this to his advantage. Proof that life scarred him at a young age can be seen in the fact that his father died in the Civil War and that his mother also passed away a short time after. Thus, he and his sister grew up as orphans and he was required to take responsibility for others from an early age. His name, Coriolanus, is by the way a reference to the Roman general Gnaeus Marcius Coriolanus. Like Snow, he gained his power through dishonest means and lost it by his own arrogance. The role of Snow is played by Tom Blyth. The young actor was last seen in the film "Benediction" and also counts as a newcomer in Hollywood.

Casca Highbottom

We are particularly looking forward to meeting the creator of the Hunger Games. Although we should rather speak of an unintentional creator here. That person is Casca Highbottom. He is the Dean of the Academy, which is the elite school in the Capitol. He created the Hunger Games as a theoretical concept that was never meant to be carried out. However, an ambitious doctor at the Academy took the concept and brought it to the public, and thus Casca became known as the face of the Hunger Games. The cruelty involved in reality and his personal involvement in it led Highbottom to become addicted to morphine. Playing the Dean is none other than "Game of Thrones" star Peter Dinklage. We couldn't have dreamed of a better cast for a genius with a tendency toward self-indulgence. In keeping with the motto: I take morphine - and I know things.

Lucretius Flickerman

What would the Hunger Games be without a Flickerman? In "The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes", however, his name is not Caesar, but Lucretius "Lucky" Flickerman. In the 10th Hunger Games, he is not hosting the entire games yet, instead he conducts the interviews with the mentors and tributes. He is played by Jason Schwartzman, who most recently appeared in "Fargo" and "The French Dispatch". Whether there is a family connection between Caesar Flickerman and Lucretius was never mentioned in the books.

District 12

Given that the protagonist is from District 12 again, we can assume that there will be some other characters from this part of Panem as well. Three more residents have been confirmed already. Number one: Billy Taupe as Lucy's lover. There is sure to be a lot of possible conflict with this character - especially considering that she also gets romantically involved with Snow. In the movie, Taupe is played by "Valley of the Boom" actor Dakota Shapiro. We also get to meet one of Lucy's bandmates: Maude Ivory Baird. She is played by Vaughan Reilly. And last but not least, of course, we have the male tribute Spruce. Lucy's counterpart is portrayed by the Brit George Somner, who last had a role in the TV series "This Is Going To Hurt".

The Tributes

A large part of the tributes has also been cast already. Since the tributes are children, the actors are of course relatively young and for many it is their first role in a major Hollywood film. Mizzen from District 4 is played by Cooper Dillon - some of you may know the German-American from "The Peppercorns", a German kids series. Lamina from District 7 is portrayed by Irene Böhm. The 18-year-old played in the TV series "Babylon Berlin". There she is the sister of the protagonist Charlotte Ritter. The Tribute of District 8 is played by 13-year-old Sofia Sanchez. The young American model has been diagnosed with trisomy 21 and became well-known for her video "Down Syndrome Is Not Scary". The District 10 tributes are played by Luna Kuse, known from the German TV Show "Castle Einstein", and Kjel Brutscheidt. Latter was last seen in the German film "The Young Chief Winnetou". The final tribute is Reaper from District 11, played by Dimitri Abold.

The Mentors

Among the tributes are, of course, also the mentors from the Capitol. In the 10th Hunger Games, these all come from the Academy. The top 24 students have the honor of being mentors in the Hunger Games. For the female tribute Coral from District 4, Festus Creed is the mentor. He is played by the British actor Max Raphael. For Mizzen it is Persephone Price and she is embodied by Athena Strates; the young South African with German background has also made a couple of appearances on German television. Lamina from District 7 is trained by Pliny "Pup" Harrington. He is portrayed by Ayomide Adegun. For Adegun it is his first appearance on the big screen. Then there is the male tribute from District 7 Treech, who gets Vipsania Sickle as a mentor. Sickle is played by 18-year-old American Amélie Hoeferle. Meanwhile, Domitia Whimsiwick is the mentor for the tribute from District 10 and Lysistrata Vickers is her equivalent of the male tribute from District 12. The two women are embodied by Kaitlyn Akinpelumi and Zoe Renee.

Production

Unlike most of the cast, we will see a well-known name sitting in the director's chair. As in "Catching Fire", "Mockingjay - Part 1" and "Mockingjay - Part 2", Francis Lawrence will once again direct the film. For the production, the team is also sticking to the tried and true: Nina Jacobs and Brad Simpson are back in charge. Book author Suzanne Collins herself is even on hand to handle the screenplay, while Michael Arndt, who wrote "Star Wars Episode 7: The Force Awakens", and Michael Leslie are both providing support. Leslie wrote the screenplay for the film adaptation of "Macbeth", released in cinemas in 2015. Shooting for the movie is set to begin in the Fall of 2022, and it will be shot in Germany. Filming will take place primarily in the greater Duisburg, Hattingen and Cologne areas. Anyone who wanted to be part of the film had the chance to apply until August. In fact, the makers were looking for more than 3,000 extras in Germany alone. That is certainly one reason why so many German actors were cast. However, the theatrical release is still some time away, as the release date is scheduled for November 17, 2023. Of course, we will be keeping you up to date with all the news about the production and cast in our weekly news.

Plot

Needless to say, the movie will once again focus on the Hunger Games. 63 years before Katniss Everdeen, Panem is still shaken by the Civil War, which happened 10 years earlier. For 16-year-old Lucy Gray, as tribute of District 12, it's all about survival. Nevertheless, her love affair with her mentor Coriolanus Snow seems to give her some advantage during the competition. Snow, however, is pursuing his own goals. He is out to restore his family's honor, after their fall from grace during the riots. He certainly has his chance as a mentor in the course of the Hunger Games, and he soon recognizes his talents, which will later help him become president. In addition, we are already looking forward to the story around Casca Highbottom, the unintentional creator of the Hunger Games. Whether we will also get to experience the beginnings through flashbacks remains to be seen. Sadly, we haven't had a chance to see any moving images yet, but we did get to see a first teaser. However, it only shows a snake and a bird. Since it's still almost a year before the film is released, we will have to wait a little more to get a first trailer. But as always, you will be able to watch it here on our channel.

Outro

Well, that was it: all the information about the new part of "The Hunger Games". But now it's your turn: What are you most excited about? The games themselves, the new heroine or maybe the character development of the future President Snow? Let us know down below in the comments and if you liked the video, please give it a thumbs up! See you next time.