The new “Hunger Games” prequel won’t be published until next month, but the movie adaptation is already in the works, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
“The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes,” a prequel to the hit “Hunger Games” trilogy, will be released by author Suzanne Collins on May 19, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
However, the book is already in the process of being adapted into a movie. Lionsgate, the studio behind the four “Hunger Games” films, revealed on Tuesday that Francis Lawrence —who directed three of the original movies — will be returning to direct the sequel, according to Entertainment Weekly.
Meanwhile, Collins will adapt the screenplay alongside “Catching Fire” screenwriter Michael Arndt, EW reported.
The prequel will take place 64 years before the events of the original trilogy and focus on the story of President Coriolanus Snow, the villain of “The Hunger Games,” the Deseret News reported in January.
“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,” the novel’s description reads, according to HuffPost.
Casting for the new movie has not yet been announced and the movie does not yet have a release date, according to The Hollywood Reporter.