The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes: Peter Dinklage, Viola Davis & more welcome you to The Academy

Are you ready to return to the world of Panem? Lionsgate certainly hopes so as they’ve released a new promo for The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes which welcomes new students to the Academy.

The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes promo includes a number of significant players at the Academy, including Casca Highbottom (Peter Dinklage), the Dean of the Academy, Dr. Volumnia Gaul (Viola Davis), head game maker of the 10th Annual Hunger Games, Sejanus Plinth (Josh Andrés Rivera), and Coriolanus Snow (Tom Blyth).

Taking place decades before the original movies, The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes stars Tom Blyth as Coriolanus Snow, the future ruler of Panem who isn’t quite as sadistic this early in his life. The film also stars Rachel Zegler as Lucy Gray Baird, Jason Schwartzman as Lucretius “Lucky” Flickerman, and Hunter Schafer as Tigris Snow. Francis Lawrence, who previously directed Catching Fire, Mockingjay Part One, and Mockingjay Part Two, returned to helm the prequel from a screenplay by Michael Lesslie and Michael Arndt based on Suzanne Collins’ The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.

Should the prequel prove to be successful, I’d imagine that it won’t be the last we see of Panem; and hell, if Jennifer Lawrence is game to return as Katniss Everdeen, it might just happen.

The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes “follows a young Coriolanus who is the last hope for his failing lineage, the once-proud Snow family that has fallen from grace in a post-war Capitol. With his livelihood threatened, Snow is reluctantly assigned to mentor Lucy Gray Baird, a tribute from the impoverished District 12. But after Lucy Gray’s charm captivates the audience of Panem, Snow sees an opportunity to shift their fates. With everything he has worked for hanging in the balance, Snow unites with Lucy Gray to turn the odds in their favor. Battling his instincts for both good and evil, Snow sets out on a race against time to survive and reveal if he will ultimately become a songbird or a snake.“

The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes will be released in theaters on November 17th.