Original Hunger Games star Josh Hutcherson has offered his thoughts about the franchise’s new prequel, The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes. Beginning with 2012’s The Hunger Games, Hutcherson starred opposite Jennifer Lawrence as Peeta Mellark, a fellow tribute from District 12 selected to compete in the 74th Annual Hunger Games. While Hutcherson’s character would go on to appear in all four movies in the original series, the franchise’s latest installment is set decades before either Peeta or Katniss were even born.
Talking with Entertainment Tonight, Hutcherson shared his thoughts on the latest Hunger Games movie, admitting that while he had not yet seen it himself, he has “heard it’s great.” Explaining that being involved in the original movies were some of the biggest defining moments of his career, he also suggested that he feels “really weird driving around and seeing Hunger Games billboards” and not having to participate in press commitments for the movie. Check out his comments below:
I’ve heard it’s great. I’m really curious, ’cause the world of Hunger Games has obviously been really interesting to me for a long time.
I mean that was one of the biggest moments of my entire life, was making those movies. It was really weird driving around and seeing Hunger Games billboards and feeling like I should be at a press junket… We need to have a reunion, it’s been too long.
How Songbirds & Snakes’ Coriolanus Snow Is A Dark Mirror Of Josh Hutcherson’s Peeta Mellark
While much of the discussion in the lead-up to 2023’s release of The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes focused on comparing Rachel Zegler’s Lucy Gray Baird to Katniss Everdeen, there are also significant parallels between Tom Blyth’s young Coriolanus Snow and Hutcherson’s own Hunger Games character. Despite having very different dispositions and personal backstories, both Snow and Peeta still share much in common beyond finding their respective love interests courtesy of the violent spectacle of the Hunger Games.
10 Hunger Games Moments That Hit Different After Songbirds & Snakes
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes takes place well before the Hunger Games movies, but it sheds new light on many of the original series’ scenes.
Largely responsible for making the people of the Capitol become enamored with Katniss prior to her own Hunger Games debut, Peeta is noted for his natural ability to persuade crowds and appeal to the desires of the masses. Despite his self-deprecating humor and quiet humility, Peeta’s own introduction to the Capitol shows that he is a deft hand at playing into the same sense of theatricality and showmanship that Snow himself is responsible for introducing.
Helping to shape Katniss’ public image like Snow once did for Lucy Gray Baird, Peeta offers audiences a glimpse of the man Snow might have become if it weren’t for his ruthless ambitions. With Snow and Lucy’s own love story a twisted reflection of the relationship Peeta fosters with Katniss decades later, The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes also helps to provide a deeper insight into Snow’s dismissive reaction to the pair’s staged romance and his later efforts to brainwash Peeta and turn him against his fellow tribute.
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is a prequel movie set 64 years before the events of the original movie with Katniss Everdeen. The film centers on a young Coriolanus Snow (Tom Blyth) and shows his rise to power as the leader of Panem. Taking place during the 10th Hunger Games, Snow is tasked with mentoring Lucy Gray Baird (Rachel Zegler), the tribute from District 12.
- Release Date
- November 17, 2023
- Director
- Francis Lawrence
- Cast
- Tom Blyth , Rachel Zegler , Hunter Schafer , Jason Schwartzman , Peter Dinklage , Josh Andrés , Josh Andrés Rivera , Viola Davis
- Rating
- PG-13
- Runtime
- 157 Minutes
- Genres
- Action , Adventure , Drama
- Writers
- Michael Lesslie , Michael Arndt , Suzanne Collins
- Studio(s)
- Color Force , Lionsgate
- Distributor(s)
- Lionsgate
- Sequel(s)
- The Hunger Games , The Hunger Games: Catching Fire , The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 , The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2
- Franchise(s)
- The Hunger Games
