Lionsgate's Hunger Games prequel movie following a young President Snow, based on The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, will begin filming next year.

The prequel film will be about Coriolanus Snow at 18, years before he would become the tyrannical President of Panem. The young Coriolanus is handsome and charming, and though the Snow family has fallen on hard times, he sees a chance for a change in his fortunes when he is chosen to be a mentor for the Tenth Hunger Games, only to have his elation dashed when he is assigned to mentor the girl tribute from impoverished District 12.

Development on a Hunger Games prequel novel was announced in 2019, with Lionsgate fast-tracking a movie adaptation with franchise director Francis Lawrence. The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes was released in book format in 2020, which gave fans of this universe a chance to learn about a young Coriolanus Snow before he became president of Panem.

Casting has not yet been announced. Writer Collins will write the film and serve as executive producer. Oscar-winning screenwriter Michael Arndt will adapt the screenplay after previously serving as one of the writers of Catching Fire.

Hunger Games, which yielded nearly $3 billion in global box office across four previous films, is likely best positioned as a theatrical release. "There's an audience that wants to come back to theaters", Lionsgate motion picture group chairman Joe Drake affirmed. "I believe the market's going to come back. ... There's going to be a strong, robust platform for us to monetize our movies."

Source: Press Release