Tag Archives: Suzanne Collins

Rachel Zegler Sings “The Hanging Tree” for “Hunger Games” Prequel “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes”

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Rachel Zegler is putting in the songbird in the upcoming Hunger Games prequel The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.

The 22-year-old half-Colombian American Golden Globe-winning actress & singer’s vocals ring through on “The Hanging Tree,” the first song to be released as part of the upcoming film.

Rachel Zegler, The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes,The orchestral title, released via Geffen Records, first appeared as the second single from the soundtrack for The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1 in 2014. Jennifer Lawrence, who played Katniss Everdeen, offered her vocals for the track that was originally written by Suzanne Collins and composed by Howard, Jeremiah Fraites and Wesley Schultz from the band the Lumineers.

Audiences will witness the song’s origin in the upcoming film when Lucy Gray Baird (Zegler) sings it for the first time. “The Hanging Tree” is then passed down through generations, leading up to its appearance in “Mockingjay.”

Based on Collins’ prequel novel of the same name, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes follows a young Coriolanus Snow (Tom Blyth), who strives to uplift his family’s legacy in a post-war Capitol. In the midst of his efforts, he is tasked with mentoring District 12’s tribute and Panem’s favorite, Lucy (Zegler). Coriolanus works with Lucy to keep her alive in the Hunger Games, as he begins to wobble between the concepts of good and evil.

Among the credits, The Hunger Games franchise director Francis Lawrence returns for the prequel film. Michael Lesslie wrote the screenplay, and Collins, Tim Palen and Jim Miller executive produce alongside producers Brad Simpson, Nina Jacobson and Lawrence.

The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes”premieres in theaters on November 17.

Lionsgate Releases New Trailer for Rachel Zegler’s Hunger Games Prequel “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes”

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Rachel Zegler is fighting for her life…

Lionsgate has unveiled a new trailer for its The Hunger Games prequel The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, which teases the 22-year-old half-Colombian American Golden Globe-winning actress/singer’s fight for survival in the arena.

Rachel Zegler,The West Side Story actress stars as Lucy Gray Baird, the female District 12 tribute to the 10th Hunger Games, in the new film based on the books by Suzanne Collins, which launches in theaters November 17th.

Starring alongside Zegler is Tom Blyth, who portrays Coriolanus Snow, Baird’s mentor in this game of survival who finds himself torn between his duties to the Capitol and Head Gamemaker Dr. Volumnia Gaul (Viola Davis) and burgeoning feelings for his mentee.

It’s the annual reaping ceremony of the 10th annual games, set 64 years before the first film. Lucy represents impoverished District 12 and 18-year-old Coriolanus Snow is her unwilling — at first — mentor. He’s much more conflicted in his views in this film, decades before he becomes Panem’s tyrannical president. “There have been some changes this year,” he is told. “Your role is to turn these children into spectacles, not survivors.”

But after Lucy commands all Panem’s attention by defiantly singing during the reaping ceremony, Snow thinks he might be able to turn the odds in their favor. Uniting their instincts for showmanship and newfound political savvy, Snow and Lucy’s race against time to survive ultimately will reveal who is a songbird and who is a snake.

Like the previous films, themes here are freedom and tyranny, good and evil, how both can co-exist and why people chose one over the other. “There is natural goodness built into all a us. We can step across that line into evil — or not,” says Lucy. Panem is full of cranes and construction — rebuilding a decade after a brutal civil war.

The prequel in the $3 billion-grossing global franchise will hit theaters around the world on November 17. Hunger Games franchise sequel producer Francis Lawrence directed and also will produce with the series producers Nina Jacobson and Brad Simpson.

Lionsgate Releases Trailer for Rachel Zegler’s “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes”

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Rachel Zegler is satiating the world’s hunger for more details about the Hunger Games prequel.

Lionsgate has released the trailer for its prequel film The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, starring the 21-year-old Colombian Golden Globe-winning actress and singer.

Rachel Zegler, The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes,It’s a first look at tribute Lucy Gray Baird (Zegler) and Coriolanus Snow (Tom Blyth), with Peter Dinklage as the vindictive Casca Highbottom, Dean of the Academy, creator of the Hunger Games. Viola Davis is Head Gamemaker Volumnia Gaul.

It’s the annual reaping ceremony of the 10th annual games, set 64 years before the first film. Lucy represents impoverished District 12 and 18-year-old Coriolanus Snow is her unwilling — at first — mentor. He’s much more conflicted in his views in this film, decades before he becomes Panem’s tyrannical president.

“There have been some changes this year,” he is told. “Your role is to turn these children into spectacles, not survivors.”

But after Lucy commands all Panem’s attention by defiantly singing during the reaping ceremony, Snow thinks he might be able to turn the odds in their favor. Uniting their instincts for showmanship and newfound political savvy, Snow and Lucy’s race against time to survive ultimately will reveal who is a songbird and who is a snake.

Like the previous films, themes here are freedom and tyranny, good and evil, how both can co-exist and why people chose one over the other. “There is natural goodness built into all a us. We can step across that line into evil — or not,” says Lucy. Panem is full of cranes and construction — rebuilding a decade after a brutal civil war.

The prequel in the $3 billion-grossing global franchise will hit theaters around the world on November 17.

Hunger Games franchise sequel producer Francis Lawrence directed and also will produce with the series producers Nina Jacobson and Brad Simpson. Hunger Games author Suzanne Collins, Tim Palen and Jim Miller are executive producers.

Rachel Zegler Offers a Behind-The-Scenes Look at “Hunger Games” Prequel “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes”

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It’s opening Games for Rachel Zegler.

The 21-year-old Colombian Golden Globe-winning actress has offered a first look at the set of the Hunger Games prequel The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes via her official TikTok account.

Rachel Zegler, The Ballad of Songbirds and SnakesIn the video posted to her account, Zegler gives viewers a tour of the set for the film, which is based on Suzanne Collins’ book of the same name.

The film stars Tom Blyth as a young Coriolanus Snow — who eventually grows up to become menacing antagonist President Snow in the original trilogy — who is chosen to mentor Zegler’s Lucy Gray Baird during the tenth Hunger Games. Francis Lawrence is set to direct.

“Hello, TikTok, I’m Rachel Zegler, and I’d like to show you the set of Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes,” the Snow White and West Wide Story actress says at the beginning of the video.

A montage of quick shots reveals what appears to be a schoolroom set for the Academy, the Capitol’s elite high school. In one shot, students dressed in pleated blood-red uniforms sit on circular white risers.

The footage also features Peter Dinklage, who plays Academy dean Casca Highbottom, dressed in an all-black ensemble, in addition to a clip of Blyth and Ashley Liao — who plays Clemensia Dovecote — dancing in their school uniforms.

“Let’s meet some of the cast,” Zegler says in the TikTok. “I see here, the lead of the film, Tom Blyth. Do you want to be in the video?” she asks the actor, who is sipping coffee at the exact moment she asks the question. Blyth gives the camera a mock glare, then tosses the coffee cup at the camera.

Zegler then shows viewers “Video Village,” which she explains is where the “director, producers, writers, dialect coaches, they all watch.”

“You can actually catch some of them in action right now,” she adds as the camera pans over to people sitting in chairs and zooms in on one of the producers working.

Zegler also introduces viewers to Josh Andrés Rivera, who plays Sejanus Plinth, one of Coriolanus Snow’s friends and a mentor to the District 2 male tribute. “And over here we have my least favorite person on set, Josh Rivera,” she says jokingly. Zegler and Rivera starred together in Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story — Zegler played Maria, while Rivera played Chino.

“What’s going on, it’s Josh Rivera coming at you live,” Rivera says, taking off his sunglasses and squinting at the camera.

The video concludes with Zegler re-introducing herself. “I’m Rachel Zegler, and I play Lucy Gray Baird in The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. Thanks for joining me.”

The TikTok was shot by Reece Feldman, also known by @guywithamoviecamera, a TikTok creator with 1.1 million followers known for posting behind-the-scenes content of shows like The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and films like Not Okay.

Cast members not featured in the behind-the-scenes footage include Hunter Schafer, who plays Coriolanus Snow’s cousin Tigris Snow, and Viola Davis, who was cast as Volumnia Gaul, the creator of the Hunger Games.

Click here to see the full TikTok video.

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes premieres in theaters on Nov. 17, 2023.

Walsh Cast as the Lead in “The Hunger Games” Spoof

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It looks like Maiara Walsh is the latest tribute headed to the arena… Well, sort of!

The 24-year-old half-Brazilian actress has been cast as the female lead in a parody of Jennifer Lawrence’s blockbuster film The Hunger Games.

Maiara Walsh

In the film entitled The Starving Games, Walsh will portray a character named Kantmiss Evershot, based on Lawrence’s character Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games.

Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer, the duo behind Date Movie, Meet the Spartans and Vampires Suck, wrote the script and will direct the parody. Along with mocking Suzanne Collins’ book series, the film will also spoof The Avengers, Sherlock Holmes and the finale of the Harry Potter franchise.

Pretty Little Liars actor Brant Daugherty has already been cast as the parody version of Gale, played in The Hunger Games by Liam Hemsworth.

Shooting on The Starving Games begins this week in New Orleans.

Walsh, known more for her dramatic roles, co-stars as the devious Simone Sinclair on ABC Family’s Switched at Birth and has appeared on The Secret Life of the American Teenager, the CW‘s The Vampire Diaries and ABC’s Desperate Housewives.