‘The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes’ Nears $100 Million Globally. Is It Enough to Justify More ‘Hunger Games’?

A.D. Amorosi With Lionsgate’s “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” looking to continue its reign at the top spot of the box office, it’s time to consider the most sonorous secret to its success: its original, bluegrass-tinted song selection, including a theme written and produced by Dave Cobb (with lyrics from “Hunger Games” author Suzanne Collins), and sung soulfully by the film’s star, Rachel Zegler.

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“The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” stayed at No. 1 at the box office on Black Friday, retaining the top spot in its second week on the screens.

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Brent Lang Executive Editor There’s a good old fashioned box office battle brewing. Disney’s “Wish,” an animated adventure that had been expected to dominate the Thanksgiving holiday is facing off against Lionsgate’s “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” for the top spot over the five-day stretch. And the dystopian prequel, which is currently in its second week of release, is showing impressive resilience against the family flick.

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Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Local crime drama film “Last Suspect” returned to the top spot at the mainland China box office over the latest weekend, as “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” opened quietly in third place. Narrowly beaten last week by “The Marvels,” “Last Suspect” climbed one place while “The Marvels” fell out of the top five in China. In its third weekend of release, “Last Suspect” recorded $10.1 million (RMB76 million), according to data from consultancy Artisan Gateway.

The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes brought us back to the world of Panem, and fans of the franchise are likely wondering if there is more content on the way.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor “You may know me from other stuff, but I don’t use a lot of colors, except when necessary,” says renowned costume designer Trish Summerville. So, when it came to designing the main outfit worn by Rachel Zegler’s Lucy Gray in “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes,” Summerville, whose credits include “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo,” “Mank” and “Gone Girl,” had to wrap her head around “a rainbow dress with ruffles and things she keeps in her pockets.” The rainbow dress was one of the first outfits Summerville tackled.

EXCLUSIVE: Music has continually been a facet of Lionsgate‘s $3 billion Hunger Games franchise going back to ditties from Taylor Swift, Coldplay and Lorde, and with today’s theatrical release of Lionsgate’s The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, the studio teamed with Spotify for a multi-faceted partnership that shines a spotlight on music’s legacy in the Suzanne Collins franchise.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Welcome back to Panem! “The Hunger Games” franchise is officially revived with the release of “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes,” a prequel film set many years before the rise of Katniss Everdeen. Based on the Suzanne Collins novel of the same name, the prequel centers on a young Coriolanus Snow as his experience mentoring District 12 tribute Lucy Gray Baird in the 10th Hunger Games shapes him into the villain fans of the franchise know well.

Cruella,” “Joker” and “Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace,” only strewn with young-adult corpses, silly clothes and Roman names.The trouble is that by the end of the over two-and-a-half-hour movie, directed by Francis Lawrence, viewers still can’t quite put their fingers on why Coryo (Tom Blyth) picks the nasty path he ultimately does. Is it a basic lust for power? A lightbulb realization that survival is more important than morality? Who knows? A lot is shoved into a long and anticlimactic third act, but we’re left hungry for a meatier conclusion.“Songbirds and Snakes” is set during the 10th annual Hunger Games — a televised battle to the death that pits 24 low-class kids against each other in an arena — 64 years before the events of the first film.

K.J. Yossman “The Hunger Games” star Sam Claflin has boarded George C. Siougas’ short film “The One Note Man” as an executive producer.

The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes soundtrack will feature a star-studded list of contributors including Rachel Zegler and Olivia Rodrigo. However, Nicki Minaj is not on the list, despite what you might have heard.

Katcy Stephan Tom Blyth is tired, but he’s doing a good job of hiding it. When the star of “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” sits down with Variety via Zoom, SAG-AFTRA is still on strike, and it’s been six short days since the Lionsgate thriller received an in- terim agreement from the guild. That means the press tour leading up to the long-anticipated release, typically spread across several months, has been condensed to just two weeks.