The daily gossip: Elisabeth Moss defends ‘misunderstood’ Scientology, Hunger Games prequel to debut in 2023, and more
Lionsgate wants to revive the Hunger Games franchise, but will the odds be ever in their favor? A new film in the series, Hunger Games Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, will hit theaters in November 2023, and a short teaser was shown at CinemaCon. “You’re invited to return to the Games,” the teaser said, declaring that “in 2023, the world will discover who is a songbird and who is a snake.” This will be a prequel based on Suzanne Collins’ 2020 novel, and it follows a young version of future President Snow, who “sees a chance for a change in fortunes when he is chosen to be a mentor” to a tribute from District 12. The original Hunger Games films were massive at the box office, grossing almost $3 billion, but we’ll have to see if the series can catch fire again almost a decade later. Hey, it’s not like making prequels to hugely popular franchises has ever gone wrong, right?