The upcoming Hunger Games prequel movie The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes needs to make one major book change for Lucy Gray’s story to fit the film franchise. Lionsgate found great success in bringing Suzanne Collins’ young adult novels to the big screen during the 2010s. While the quartet of films starring Jennifer Lawrence’s Katniss Everdeen ended in 2015, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes expands the franchise by telling the origin of Coriolanus Snow. The events center on Snow and his relationship with District 12’s female tribute, Lucy Gray Baird, who is quite a different female protagonist when compared to Katniss.
Those expecting The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes to be exactly like the original Hunger Games movies might be surprised by the film at the end of the day. Director Francis Lawrence is returning to the franchise, but the story is much more political and romantic. It is a stark contrast to the survival/action story that unfolded around Katniss. Of course, it was that tone and the Hunger Games movies’ ability to explore how difficult it was for the tributes inside the Games that really became a calling card for the franchise. Even when the story moved beyond the confines of the survival tournament, the films still found a way to incorporate a lot of action.
Due to the expectations that The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes will mirror the first four Hunger Games movies, the prequel needs to change a big part of the book’s focus to show Lucy Gray’s perspective during the 10th Hunger Games. Suzanne Collins never gave readers a chance to be inside Lucy’s mind or see the Hunger Games experience through her eyes. Once the competition began, that means everything was seen from Snow’s perspective as he watched the cameras. Adapting this directly could be a huge disappointment for Hunger Games movie fans expecting The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes to show life for Rachel Zegler’s Lucy Gray and other tributes inside the game and the action that comes as a result. For that reason, the Hunger Games prequel movie would be better off changing the book to show Lucy Gray’s perspective as she fights for her life.
How Lucy Gray’s Hunger Games Are Different From Katniss’
Viewers are now acutely aware of how the Hunger Games operated when Katniss Everdeen participated, but Lucy Gray’s games came over 60 years before. Comparing Lucy Gray’s experience in the 10th Hunger Games to Katniss’ time in the 74th and 75th Hunger Games show just how different they really are. Tributes were not housed in fancy rooms with training time but were instead left in cages in a zoo. The casualties even started before the 10th Hunger Games officially began, as multiple tributes were killed during a tour of the arena and another died at the zoo. By the time the games actually began, only 14 of the 24 tributes remain. It all shows how unruly the Hunger Games were in their infancy and how the Capitol worked to produce a better product over time.
An important development came from Lucy Gray’s Hunger Games, though, as it was the first time mentors were introduced. Whereas Katniss and other tributes received mentors in victors from their district, Lucy Gray and others participating in the 10th Hunger Games were mentored by the Capitol’s brightest students. It was mostly disastrous for a variety of reasons, including Coriolanus Snow’s romance with Lucy Gray. But, the mentor system was refined after The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes to create the program audiences know from the Hunger Games movies.
