The Hunger Games: Production of the prequel starts in 2022

The Hunger Games

It has been known for a long time that the successful book series "The Hunger Games" (original title: The Hunger Games) by Suzanne Collins is getting a prequel. May 2020 it was published by us with the title "The Song of Bird and Snake", which takes place 64 years before the events of the popular trilogy.

Even then, the film company Lionsgate announced its interest in a film version of the prequel and how the company's chairman, Joe Drake, has now announced that production of the film will begin in the first half of next year.

Recommended editorial content Here you will find external content from [PLATFORM]. To protect your personal data, external integrations are only displayed if you confirm this by clicking on "Load all external content": Load all external content I consent to external content being displayed to me. This means that personal data is transmitted to third-party platforms. Read more about our privacy policy . External content More on this in our data protection declaration.

No information about the actors, little information about those responsible

That is what Drake announced during the company's quarterly financial meeting with Wall Street analysts. If everything goes smoothly after shooting starts in the first half of 2022, the film should be released either at the end of financial year 2023 or at the beginning of financial year 2024.

According to Drake, preproduction would go like clockwork. When asked about the current cinema situation, the chairman was confident. Established brands have been successful despite the pandemic and that is why he is also confident about the Panem prequel: "There is an audience that wants to go back to the cinemas. I think the market will return. There will be a strong, robust platform to monetize our films. "

There is not much information about the prequel yet, no actors are known yet. As with the other films in the series, Nina Jacobson and Brad Simpson are there as producers. Oscar winner Michael Arndt will adapt the script and author Collins will accompany the project as executive producer.

In terms of content, the prequel will of course be based on the book and, as mentioned, play 64 years before the trilogy. The focus is on 18-year-old Coriolanus Snow, long before he appears as the tyrant of Panems. He sees his big chance when he is nominated for the tenth Hunger Games. But it turns out differently than the ambitious Snow imagines ...

Source: Deadline

---

Hunger Games Prequel Movie Set to Start Production in 2022

© Provided by People Color Force/Lionsgate/Kobal/Shutterstock Donald Sutherland as Coriolanus Snow in The Hunger Games

The Hunger Games prequel is officially in the works!

The upcoming film, based on author Suzanne Collins' 2020 novel, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, is slated to start production in 2022, Deadline reported Thursday. Lionsgate motion picture group chairman Joe Drake revealed during a quarterly earnings call that executives are eyeing a theatrical release in late 2023 or early 2024, saying pre-production is 'moving along really, really well.'

© Color Force/Lionsgate/Kobal/Shutterstock Donald Sutherland as Coriolanus Snow in The Hunger Games

'There's an audience that wants to come back [to theaters]' Drake said, according to the outlet. 'I believe the market's going to come back. …There's going to be a strong, robust platform for us to monetize our movies.'

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes takes place in the Hunger Games universe, set roughly 64 years before the first book in the original trilogy. The Ballad follows an 18-year-old Coriolanus Snow, who would eventually rise to become the tyrannical president of the dystopian nation of Panem, and the main villain of the Hunger Games series.

© Provided by People Scholastic Press

RELATED: The Hunger Games' Suzanne Collins Writes Prequel, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes: PEOPLE Review

Donald Sutherland portrayed the authoritarian President Snow across the first four movies, which followed the story of a brutal, annual affair where two teenage tributes from each of the 12 districts of the nation Panem are chosen at random to fight to the death in a televised survival challenge.

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free weekly newsletter to get the biggest news of the week delivered to your inbox every Friday.

Lionsgate first announced in April 2020 that the Hunger Games prequel would be getting the big screen treatment. Francis Lawrence, who directed three of the first four films in the series — The Hunger Games: Catching Fire and parts 1 and 2 of The Hunger Games: Mockingjay — was also said to be returning for the prequel, Entertainment Weekly reported at the time.

RELATED: Hunger Games Series Director Francis Lawrence to Return for Anticipated Prequel Movie

Collins will serve as executive producer on The Ballad, and adapt the screenplay with Catching Fire screenwriter Michael Arndt. Franchise producers Nina Jacobson and Brad Simpson are also set to return for the latest installment, Deadline reported. No casting news or further release date information has yet been announced

The first three books in Collins' bestselling series — The Hunger Games, Catching Fire and Mockingjay — have more than 100 million copies in print worldwide and have been translated into 54 languages.

At the movies, the four on-screen adaptations, released 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015, respectively, later grossed close to $3 billion worldwide.