The Hunger Games prequel teaser trailer asks you to choose between songbirds and snakes

The first teaser for the screen adaptation of The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is here, and it’s sure to give you chills. The brief teaser shows a songbird and a snake frozen while perched on a branch. As snow falls from the sky, the ice cracks, releasing both creatures from their chilly incarceration. You can see that both the songbird and snake are a beautiful gold color, and they’re at war with one another. At the end of the teaser, the snake strikes out at the songbird, and then a gorgeous new logo for the film appears.

“You’re invited to return to the Games in 2023,” The Hunger Games prequel teaser states. “The world will discover who is a songbird and who is a snake.”

The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is a prequel to The Hunger Games trilogy starring Jennifer Lawrence.

“Years, before he would become the tyrannical President of Panem, 18-year-old Coriolanus Snow (Tom Blyth), is the last hope for his fading lineage, a once-proud family that has fallen from grace in a post-war Capitol,” reads the official synopsis of the Hunger Games prequel. “With the 10th annual Hunger Games fast approaching, the young Snow is alarmed when he is assigned to mentor Lucy Gray Baird, the girl tribute from impoverished District 12. But, after Lucy Gray commands all of 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 will ultimately reveal who is a songbird and who is a snake.” Francis Lawrence, who directed the final three films of the Hunger Games franchise, has returned to helm the prequel movie.

“Coriolanus Snow is many things — a survivor, a loyal friend, a cutthroat, a kid quick to fall in love, and a young man ambitious to his core,” Lawrence said. “Tom’s take on the character showed us all the complex ambiguities of this young man as he transforms into the tyrant he would become.”

Lawrence also commented on Zegler by saying, “Like everybody, I first saw Rachel Zegler in West Side Story, and like everybody, I knew I was watching a star who would command the screen for a generation. Lucy Gray is a perfect match for her as an actress: the character is bold, independent, and defiant, but also vulnerable, emotional, and loving. Rachel will make this character unforgettable.”

The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes debuts in theaters on Nov. 17, 2023. Are you ready for the Hunger Games to come back into the pop culture zeitgeist? Will this generation embrace the franchise as much as fans championed the original? Only time will tell.