The ballad of songbirds and snakes takes us back more than six decades before Katniss Everdeen fought in her first Hunger Games, and as we see in the first trailer released Thursday night, the filmmakers gave the film a very vintage.
Telling the story of the future President Snow mentoring a much younger Hunger Games contestant when he was much younger, the art style of the film puts a radical twist on the retro-futuristic look of the original four films, blanketing everything in a fascinating early style. Aesthetics of the mid-20th century.
Check the trailer here.
The trailer introduces all of the main players, from Snow himself (Tom Blyth) to his apprentice Lucy (Rachel Zegler), to Peter Dinklage’s Casca Highbottom, the game’s creator, and the intense Dr. Gaul (Viola Davis). And we even got to meet Lucky Flickerman (Jason Schwartzman), presumably related to Stanley Tucci’s Caesar Flickerman from the previous movies.
While the plot is light, that new aesthetic results in some great visuals. And the Hunger Games seems to take place in a smaller arena here, one that doesn’t quite resemble the lush jungle of the previous movies.
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is directed by Francis Lawrence, who has handled directing duties on all but the first Hunger Games film. The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes hits theaters on November 17.
The products discussed here were independently chosen by our editors. GameSpot may earn a share of the revenue if you purchase something featured on our site.
