The Hunger Games is getting a prequel film set for 2023

The Hunger Games film franchise helped kick off and define the previous decade’s wave of Young Adult novels adapted into blockbuster Hollywood movies. It was a gritty, action-packed alternative for those not interested in the vampire romance of the Twilight films, and helped usher in the 2010s trend for dystopian sci-fi. In the high-stakes world of The Hunger Games, young people from the fictional nation Panem are chosen for a deadly survival game that is broadcast on reality television across the country.

Based on the Young Adult novels by author Suzanne Collins, the movies and books followed protagonist Katniss Everdeen, played by Jennnifer Lawrence in a break-out role. Yahoo! Entertainment reports that the series is soon to receive a reboot in the form of a prequel from Lionsgate, The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.

The film was announced at Lionsgate’s panel at CinemaCon, in a presentation to theater owners and journalists. The prequel followed behind Lionsgate’s laundry list of heavy-hitting new offerings. They also announced new installments of The Incredibles and John Wick.

The events of the film follow the boy who would grow up to be the dictatorial villain, President Snow, of the films featuring Jennifer Lawrence’s Katniss. In Songbirds and Snakes, based on Collins’s 2020 novel, Coriolanus Snow serves as a student mentor to a child tribute from District 12-fans will recall that 12 was also Everdeen’s home district. The prequel will delve into the origin of many familiar aspects of The Hunger Games universe, like the Mockingjay bird.

While the role of Katniss made Lawrence a star, it is unlikely that she will be reprising that role for this film. The action of the prequel is set 60 years before the original Hunger Games films.

The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is expected to be released on November 17, 2023.