Lionsgate and Francis Lawrence’s comeback to the Suzanne Collins property with a film based on her prequel novel. It is expected to start at $50 million on November 17, similar to 2011’s Rise of the Planet of the Apes ($54.8 million). The film cost roughly $100 million. Given the competitive edge in the marketplace, Lionsgate chose to stick with Songbirds and Snakes and not take the film off the schedule owing to the actors’ strike.
Dune: Part Two was pulled off the November schedule by Legendary/Warner Bros. Enabling Lionsgate access to extra PLF screens. Furthermore, with a brand like Hunger Games, fans were already flocking to this film.
Which has a fresh face ensemble led by Tom Blyth and Rachel Zegler; a total relaunch of the franchise, which has made over $3 billion globally across four films. The bestselling novel by Suzanne Collins takes place 64 years before Jennifer Lawrence’s Katniss Everdeen and the events of the first books and movie.
With the tenth annual Hunger Games rapidly approaching. Snow is concerned when he is assigned to train Lucy Gray Baird (Rachel Ziegler). The girl tribute from impoverished District 12. She believes he can turn the odds in his favor after Lucy Gray commands all of Panem’s attention by defiantly singing at the reaping ceremony.
Snow and Lucy’s battle against time to survive will finally expose who is a songbird and who is a serpent. As they combine their instincts for showmanship and newfound political knowledge.
The Netflix Rewatch Campaign in March 2023 garnered massive interaction. Resulting in new TikTok videos about The Hunger Games being posted that month, a threefold increase over February 2023. The Hunger Games weekly new follower base climbed +425% on average across Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter in March. With numbers like that, it made sense for Lionsgate to stick with the November release date.
Geffen Records will release the soundtrack on the same day as the film’s theatrical release. The first song from the soundtrack, “The Hanging Tree,” was released last Friday. The genesis of the fabled song will be revealed in the upcoming film (a precursor to the original Hunger Games trilogy) when Lucy Gray Baird (Zegler) sings it for the first time. Also heard in The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes’ second official trailer.