In an exclusive chat with Empire Magazine for the media’s new issue, The Hunger Games: Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes director Francis Lawrence teased fans of The Hunger Games franchise on how the title character of the upcoming movie, Lucy Gray Baird, will be different from Katniss Everdeen. . Lawrence, who directed three of the first four films in the franchise, probably knows this better than anyone.
The upcoming adventure drama, Hunger Games: Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is a prequel based on the 2020 novel by Suzanne Collins. The film stars Rachel Zegler, Jason Schwartzman, Peter Dinklage, Hunter Schafer, Viola Davis, Burn Gorman, Tom Blyth and Josh Andrés Rivera. The film is set over 60 years before the events involving Jennifer Lawrence’s character, Katniss.
Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes will follow a young President Coriolanus Snow (previously played by Donald Sutherland and now Blyth) mentoring District 12’s female tribute, Lucy (played by Zegler). Yet despite the franchise’s enormous popularity, Francis Lawrence wonders, “Will people go see a new Hunger Games movie without Katniss?” »
Of course, even without Katniss, Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes will give fans of the franchise something to get excited about with Lucy de Zegler, who is chosen to compete in the 10th annual Hunger Games.
So what can fans expect of the character from the upcoming prequel? Well, according to Lawrence, Lucy is what he calls “the anti-Katniss.”
“Lucy Gray is the Opposite” by Katniss Everdeen
Lions Gate
He explained, “Katniss was an introvert and a survivor. She was rather calm and stoic, you could almost say (she was) asexual. Lucy Gray is the opposite. She wears her sexuality on her sleeve, (and) she really is an artist. »
The filmmaker then underlined the contrast between the two characters. While fans will recall that Katniss didn’t like being put in the spotlight, the director said Lucy was quite the opposite. Laurent said:
She likes crowds. She knows how to play with crowds and manipulate people.
The diametrically opposed characters aren’t the only ones that set the Hunger Games prequel apart from the original franchise. Previously, speaking to Deadline, producer Nina Jacobsen offered Hunger Games fans a preview of what to expect with the upcoming prequel.
Jacobsen noted that the franchise’s upcoming prequel “doesn’t feel like it’s trying to replicate previous films. It’s a new story, with new terrain and new characters. We were able to create a completely different visual language… which is still typically Panem, but also different and fresh. »
Lawrence said: “It’s the kind of playground that doesn’t happen very often, so when you have the chance to come back, it’s hugely rewarding. »
The director also noted that the film’s title reflects “a duality of spirit: light and dark, good and evil, joy and sorrow – it’s in all of us… We’re all birds. singers and we are all snakes, but can we find connection with the people around us? That’s the question. »
The Hunger Games: Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes hits theaters November 17.