Dangerous Liaison: New “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes” Teaser Centers Coriolanus & Lucy

A new teaser for The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes doubles as a listening party. The new look is set to Olivia Rodrigo’s “Can’t Catch Me Now,” a song that speaks to the situation that the film’s central figures will find themselves in.

The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes is set 64 years before the events in the original Hunger Games and is centered on a young Coriolanus Snow (Tom Blyth) long before he became the merciless ruler of Panem. Here, Coriolanus is a member of the Academy, trying to turn his own family’s fortunes around, and is tasked with mentoring a young tribute from District 12 ahead of the 10th Annual Hunger Games. That young tribute is Lucy Gray Baird (Rachel Zegler), and their growing relationship will form the crux of the adventure in director Francis Lawrence’s upcoming prequel.

As the new teaser shows, this is a relationship that no one else wants to see thrive. Not Dr. Volumnia Gaul (Viola Davis), the head gamemaker who has crafted the most ingeniously entertaining and lethal games yet and expects all but one of the tributes to perish in spectacular fashion. And not the dean of the Academy and creator of the Hunger Games himself, Casca Highbottom (Peter Dinklage), who not so gently reminds Coriolanus that their job is to “turn children into spectacles, not survivors.” The young Coriolanus clearly wants Lucy to survive, which is funny considering in a couple of decades, he’ll be all too happy to sacrifice two “tributes” (read, children) from each district to the games. 

Yet the feelings between the young Coriolanus and Lucy are real, and they promise to prove to be a defining moment in both their lives and have larger implications for the future of Panem.

Other important characters you’ll get to know in the film are Lucretius “Lucky” Flickerman (Jason Schwartzman), Coriolanus’s Academy classmates Clemensia Dovecote (Ashley Liao), and Sejanus Plinth (Josh Andrés Rivera).

Check out the new teaser below. The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes opens on November 17 in a theater near you.

For more on The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, check out these stories:

“The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes” Reveals Viola Davis as the Head Gamemaker

New “The Hunger Games: Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” Photos Reveal Tributes, Treachery, & More

Two New “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes” Teasers Unveil the Most Dangerous Game

Second “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes” Trailer Reveals a Panem-Shaking Relationship

Featured image: Tom Blyth as Coriolanus Snow and Rachel Zegler as Lucy Gray Baird in The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. Photo Credit: Murray Close

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The Credits is an online magazine that tells the story behind the story to celebrate our large and diverse creative community. Focusing on profiles of below-the-line filmmakers, The Credits celebrates the often uncelebrated individuals who are indispensable to the films and TV shows we love.