Everyone had resigned themselves to the fact that 鈥淭he Hunger Games鈥� ended in 2015. The four-film blockbuster franchise had made nearly $3 billion at the global box office and helped Jennifer Lawrence skyrocket to superstardom. But Suzanne Collins鈥� Katniss Everdeen saga was over. And, frankly, everyone, including Collins, director Francis Lawrence and producer Nina Jacobson, was eager to take a break and do something else.
For several years after 鈥� ,鈥� 鈥淗unger Games鈥�-related text conversations between Lawrence and Collins rarely went past sending one another screenshots of their films on Jeopardy categories. Then, in 2019, Jacobson and Lawrence got a call: Collins was putting the finishing touches on something new, a prequel set 64-years before Katniss volunteered as tribute. It would be focused on a young Coriolanus Snow, and there would be a big musical element.
arrives in theaters nationwide Friday at another transitional moment in Hollywood, where and, for the first time in a long time, .
And while the team was excited about the possibility of working together again, there were some nerves about whether or not there was an appetite for Hunger Games movies 鈥渨ithout Katniss,鈥� Lawrence told The Associated Press in a recent interview. But this was all before they'd laid eyes on the book.
Both Lawrence and Jacobson were soon brought into Collins鈥� agent鈥檚 office, seated in a locked room and given the book to read. To their relief, suddenly the Katniss problem didn鈥檛 seem so important anymore, and soon they were off to Lionsgate to get it off the ground.
鈥淲e were excited to be able to dive into something that didn鈥檛 feel like a rehash,鈥� Jacobson said. 鈥淚t didn鈥檛 feel like we were trying to imitate the previous movies.鈥�
For Lawrence, it 鈥渇elt like a 鈥楬unger Games鈥� story鈥� but also something unique, 鈥渨ith new thematic foundations.鈥�
鈥淚nstead of a girls鈥� survival story, it was a young man鈥檚 descent into darkness,鈥� Lawrence said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 an origin story about a major character and also the series itself.鈥�
As with the first film, Lawrence and Jacobson wanted to find fresh young talents to lead the franchise 鈥� not a TikTok star or someone already famous in another part of the world 鈥� and surround them with veteran actors. In this case, those established names would include Viola Davis, Peter Dinklage and Jason Schwartzman.
They found their young Snow, played in the original films by Donald Sutherland, via taped submission. The English actor Tom Blyth entered the running rather late and quickly became the frontrunner, beating out hundreds for the role.
鈥淗e just blew everybody out of the water,鈥� Lawrence said. 鈥淗e has a charisma, he has the right physical attributes. He鈥檚 Juilliard trained. He really knows his craft. He was going to be able to give us all the emotional values we need for the character鈥檚 journey. And he felt like a star.鈥�
For Lucy Gray Baird, the District 12 tribute Snow is assigned to mentor for the 10th Hunger Games, Lawrence already had someone in mind. Like many film fans, he was transfixed by 鈥檚 film debut as Maria in Steven Spielberg鈥檚 鈥淲est Side Story鈥� and persuaded her to co-star. It wasn't a hard sell: 鈥淭he Hunger Games鈥� were already a big part of Zegler's life having grown up with the books and the movies, which she and her mom and sister made events out of.
鈥淎s somebody who loves to call herself a fan first before anything else, the greatest gift you can get is more to the story,鈥� Zegler said. 鈥淩ather than seeing it as a pressure cooker just waiting to explode, I see it as a really big blessing.鈥�
Blyth, in his first starring role in Hollywood, felt some pressure. But he found comfort in the material they were working with.
鈥淲e鈥檙e lucky to be adapting a book that鈥檚 really good,鈥� Blyth said. 鈥淪uzanne writes these big thinking pieces that are approachable for teenagers and younger people, which I think is a genuinely honorable feat 鈥� someone who wants to try and bring bigger ideas to young people while also entertaining them.鈥�
Filming took place largely in Germany. The production looked to reconstruction-era Berlin for aesthetic and thematic inspiration for this post-war capitol that鈥檚 rebuilding and on tenuous political ground. And Trish Summerville was also brought back to design the ornate costumes, which include some Easter eggs for fans hidden in Lucy's hand-painted corset.
鈥淭here鈥檚 this spectacle to the whole world,鈥� Blyth said. 鈥淭he whole thing is about spectacle. It's about being distracted by beautiful things while everything else is going on.鈥�
But even while creating a new world, the filmmakers were disciplined about the budget. Instead of resting on laurels and precedent 鈥� 鈥淢ockingjay Part 2鈥� had a $160 million price tag 鈥� they kept theirs to a reported $100 million.
鈥淲e were very mindful that this was not a sequel but a prequel with a new cast,鈥� Jacobson said. 鈥淲e wanted to make sure that we were making this movie at a price that that made sense.鈥�
It鈥檚 easy to forget that not everyone in Hollywood thought that they had a blockbuster in their hands at the beginning. Back in 2009, when Jacobson and her production company ColorForce acquired the rights to adapt Collins鈥� YA series, there was widespread skepticism about young adult material and about the appeal of female-fronted action movies that weren鈥檛 primarily romances.
鈥淚n the original series, we were able to take a lot of risks and really challenge a lot of industry assumptions," Jacobson said. "The most important thing in this go-around was to still take those risks and not be playing it safe 鈥� to still feel like we鈥檙e making something that鈥檚 a bit on the subversive side.鈥�
With its moral ambiguity and complicated characters, Jacobson thinks it might even be the kind of movie that audiences want to discuss and debate afterward. In the past year, she added, a lot of young people have discovered the franchise on streaming who will hopefully join established fans at the theater for 鈥淭he Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes.鈥�
鈥淚鈥檓 hopeful that it will be a shared cultural experience and a communal experience at a time when we don鈥檛 have too many of those,鈥� Jacobson said. 鈥淲hen they do happen, as they have this year with movies as different as 鈥楤arbie鈥� and 鈥極ppenheimer,鈥� it certainly shows that if you give people a worthwhile and original story with some bold storytelling and a filmmaker with a voice, that they will show up. And we hope to be part of that showing up.鈥�
Lindsey Bahr, The Associated Press
