‘Hunger Games’ Prequel Casts Tom Blyth as Coriolanus Snow
variety.comRebecca Rubin Film and Media ReporterTom Blyth is headed to Panem. The actor, best known for “Billy the Kid” and “The Gilded Age,” has been cast as young President Coriolanus Snow in Lionsgate’s “The Hunger Games” prequel “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.”The movie is based on the 2020 book of the same name, which is set decades before the exploits of Katniss Everdeen in “The Hunger Games.” That means the beloved heroine, a role that propelled Jennifer Lawrence to superstardom, does not appear in “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes,” which instead centers on the man (portrayed by Donald Sutherland in the original trilogy) who eventually becomes the tyrannical president of Panem.
The prequel story takes place as an 18-year-old Snow is chosen to be mentor to Lucy Gray Baird, the girl tribute from impoverished District 12, during the 10th Hunger Games, a televised event in which teenagers are chosen via lottery to fight to the death. “The Hunger Games” films began as Katniss Everdeen (Lawrence) volunteers as tribute to take her younger sister’s place in the 74th annual Hunger Games.
Along with Lawrence, the movies starred Josh Hutcherson as Peeta Mellark, Liam Hemsworth as Gale Hawthorne, Woody Harrelson as Haymitch Abernathy, Elizabeth Banks as Effie Trinket and Sutherland as President Coriolanus Snow.Suzanne Collins’ best-selling dystopian series “The Hunger Games” was first published in 2008 and spawned two sequels, which were later developed into four films.
Those movies collectively generated $3 billion at the global box office and propelled Jennifer Lawrence, who played the franchise’s heroine Katniss Everdeen, to superstardom.“Hunger Games” veteran Francis Lawrence returned to direct the upcoming film, which will.
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