The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, a Lionsgate production, made its world debut at London’s BFI Imax this evening. Stars Rachel Zegler, Josh Andres Rivera, Tom Blyth, Hunter Schafer, and director Francis Lawrence were present on the red carpet.
Credit: Deadline
The first significant global premiere involving performers on the media queue since the SAG-AFTRA strike began in July is the return to the Suzanne Collins series, which is based on her prequel novel. The movie had already obtained an Interim Agreement with Lionsgate, a non-AMPTP firm, even if the guild and the studios had not struck a tentative agreement to terminate the strike Friday night.
In any case, the group was ecstatic that the conflict had ended. Producer Nina Jacobson, who learnt of the strike during a jet-lagged night, claimed to be among the people yelling with relief that it is done. Starting on November 15, the prequel to the $3 billion worldwide series will be released overseas, and on November 17, it will open in theatres nationwide. Michael Lesslie and Michael Arndt are the writers. Brad Simpson and Nina Jacobson co-produce alongside Lawrence. Jim Miller, Tim Palen, and Collins serve as executive producers.
Based on Suzanne Collins’ best-selling books, the fifth installment of the Hunger Games film series takes place 64 years prior to Jennifer Lawrence’s debut in the film. The youthful Coriolanus Snow, who later grows up to become the despotic president of the dystopian nation Panem, is portrayed by British actor Blyth. During the Hollywood actors’ strike, the cast was granted permission to attend the blockbuster’s premiere; but, on Wednesday, the union SAG-AFTRA called off the four-month walkout that barred movie stars from marketing their films.
Influencers, past Love Island competitors, drag queens, and young fans braved the cold and rain to meet the stars on the red carpet, which was lined with buckets capturing falling water. Jenifer Bawden, who created movie-inspired costumes for the event, told BBC News that her family arrived around 5:20 a.m. and that there were many of them. Their hometown is Bournemouth. She’s eager to see how they handle it this time because the films do a fantastic job of translating the text to the screen.
Director Francis Lawrence described the new movie, which is expected to have cost $100 million (£82 million), as “a very different kind of movie,” very much like The Hunger Games, but with a different kind of tale and other people.
The movie is slated to open in theatres everywhere on November 17.
The Hunger Games
Based on the trilogy of novels by American author Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games is a science fiction dystopian adventure film series. Lionsgate distributes the movie, which Jon Kilik and Nina Jacobson produced. Josh Hutcherson as Peeta Mellark, Liam Hemsworth as Gale Hawthorne, Woody Harrelson as Haymitch Abernathy, Elizabeth Banks as Effie Trinket, Stanley Tucci as Caesar Flickerman, and Donald Sutherland as President Snow are among the ensemble cast members in the series. Jennifer Lawrence plays Katniss Everdeen.
A number of box office records were set by the first three films. In terms of opening day and biggest opening weekend for an original IP, The Hunger Games (2012) made records. The record for the largest November opening weekend was achieved by the 2013 film Catching Fire. The first weekend and opening day of Mockingjay: Part One (2014) were the biggest of 2014. The films, which included Mockingjay – Part 2 (2015), received positive reviews for Lawrence’s acting and its themes.
