Deluxe Hunger Games 4 Book Collection Hardcover UK Edition Box Set Revealed

Check out the gorgeous, brand new, deluxe hardcover collection of The Hunger Games book series from Scholastic UK. This beautiful boxset will be released on October 26th, 2023 in the UK, and is available to pre-order now. 

The USD cost is approximately $89 and they can be shipped to the US for approx $15 shipping fee plus a few dollars exchange, making the total approx $107 at post time.

The cover art is by UK Artist Freya Betts and the design takes inspiration from Tim O’Brien’s iconic mockingjay cover art.

Tim O'Brien designed the US and Canada's original book covers, and Scholastic UK’s iconic "classic" editions in 2012, released the same year the first Hunger Games film hit screens around the world.

To celebrate the release of Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes feature film, Freya Betts has taken the four logos and added a modern twist.

The box set includes The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, Mockingjay and The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes with new covers, foil details, and the box. You can pre-order your copy on Amazon now HERE. 

*As an Amazon Associate I may earn a small amount from qualifying purchases. 

Parallels: The Ballad of Songbirds And Snakes & The Hunger Games Films

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes first trailer has been out for TWO weeks (!!), and we’re still thinking about all of the parallels between Ballad and the original films. SPOILERS AHEAD for The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.

 

The one parallel I think everyone noticed immediately was the Lucy Gray curtsey callback to Katniss sarcastically curtseying for the Gamemakers, not only in The Hunger Games..

 

…But also in Catching Fire. Rachel Zegler said it was an ad lib. But director Francis Lawrence noted in Variety, “I thought it’d be really interesting if we created a history of it so that maybe [Katniss] didn’t come up with it on her own. Maybe she’d heard about this girl from a long time ago, having done the same thing.” 

 

Katniss finds a white rose from President Snow while visiting District 12 after the Capitol bombing. She thinks, “That white-as-snow rose is a personal message to me. It speaks of unfinished business. It whispers, “I can find you. I can reach you. Perhaps I am watching you now.”

The white rose Coriolanus holds at the train station is from the Grandma’am’s precious rose garden, on a suggestion from Tigris to offer his tribute, Lucy Gray, a token. “I need to make a connection with her. As you always say, your roses open any doors.”

 

Throughout The Hunger Games films, President Snow is often seen wearing red. This scene featuring young Coriolanus on the Corso gives major future President Snow vibes. 

 

I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a role more perfectly cast than Jason Schwartzman as Lucky Flickerman, an ancestor of Stanley Tucci’s Caesar Flickerman from the original films. On their similarities, producer Nina Jacobson says, “He’s not impersonating [Tucci] - but there are moments with his laugh or flair.” Lawrence adds. “I said, ‘Listen, I think the character is under-written right now. But we have a lot of opportunity to flesh him out. I would love your help if you’re game.’” Schwartzman was. “I think he had, at the end of the day, 50 pages of new ideas and dialogue for all of his scenes. He had so much fun.”

Click to read more ...

The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes VIP Trailer Launch Event in Las Vegas

We were so honored to be among a group of select fandom accounts that Lionsgate invited to Las Vegas for an exclusive 3 day trailer launch event during CinemaCon. This fandom trip of a lifetime included a viewing of the first official trailer the day before anyone else at a private event within The Hunger Games Exhibition, a Q&A with director Francis Lawence and producer Nina Jacobson, and a hospitality suite with some fantastic merch. This is going to be a LOOOONG post so I’ll make the Q&A its own post HERE. 

First, we were treated to a hospitality suite complete with Academy and Peacekeeper (authentically) costumed attendants. The gift bags in the suite contained Ballad tee shirts and hoodies! The new merch just launched on Lionsgate.com. 

We also got a private tour and the chance to view brand new, never before seen costumes from The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes at The Hunger Games Exhibition within MGM Grand. All of the costumes we viewed at the event are also seen in the new trailer, which was extra exciting! All designed by the one and only Trish Summerville. 

Click to read more ...

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes Movie Tie-In Paperback Available For Pre-Order

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes movie tie-in paperback edition will be released September 19, 2023, and is now available for pre-order. They’re using the beautiful new teaser poster released back in March as the cover for the paperback.

You can get the new edition at Amazon and Books-A-Million.

RUMOR ALERT: The Ballad of Songbirds And Snakes Screening Rumors

RUMOR and SPOILERS! Donald Sutherland is rumored to make a cameo appearance at the end of The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds And Snakes in a short 40 second scene. 😲 We know it's just a rumor for now but WOULDN'T IT BE AMAZING?? 

This is according to @DivinitySeeker1 on twitter, who has spoken to a test screening facilitator. He says there are multiple musical numbers in the film. Obviously these are going to be the Lucy Gray scenes and The Covey scenes - very important scenes in the book and not the "burst into song" musical numbers people might be imagining. It IS called The BALLAD OF SONGBIRDS and Snakes, after all. Rumor is that the opening scene is a prologue set in the past and is a new original scene. We assume this to mean it's a scene the script writers came up with, set before the 10th Games, and is not from the book.

The current length of The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes film in test screenings is rumored to be ~ 3 hours and 40 minutes. Director Francis Lawrence has said in interviews tht this film will be the longest of all of The Hunger Games films, but that he's aiming to be well under 3 hours. They’re still figuring out which scenes to tighten up so the end result will likely be shorter.

Again, these are RUMORS and haven’t been confirmed with anyone from the studio. It's always interesting to hear these whispers and look back later to see if they were true or not.🕊️🐍

Lionsgate Chairman Joe Drake On The Hunger Games Renaissance

Lionsgate’s motion picture group chairman Joe Drake spoke with The Wrap about their plan to get audiences interested in The Hunger Games franchise again after it’s been dormant for so long.

Drake says he’s seen a cut of the film from Francis Lawrence and it’s “truly extraordinary“ 🤩

He also discussed the “Hunger Games Renaissance” (way to go, tributes!) 🏹🔥

“What’s actually happened is that there’s a viral movement called “Hunger Games Renaissance” that has come up in the past couple of weeks and while it started with people who grew up reading and watching the Hunger Games, we’re also seeing it being embraced by a whole new audience who are discovering the films and books.”

He shared that releasing the original films on Netflix put the books back on the bestseller list and amped up sales for Ballad.

“What we are doing separate from Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes to bring The Hunger Games back, is to line up all of the original movies on Netflix.When we did that, we found that the original books rose back to the top of the bestseller list and sales for the new book, Songbirds and Snakes, rose by 40% to 50%. When The Hunger Games films first came out, the strategy that Lionsgate followed was “sell the books first,” and that’s pretty much what we’re doing here to reignite the appetite for this franchise.

HAPPY HUNGER GAMES 11 YEAR ANNIVERSARY!

It’s the 11th Anniversary of The Hunger Games US theatrical premiere on March 23, 2012.

When it debuted, The Hunger Games was the #1 film 4 weeks in a row, had the biggest opening weekend for a non-sequel, the highest opening weekend for a female-led film, AND the third highest opening weekend *ever*. It surpassed almost everyone’s expectations to become a worldwide phenomenon.

If you were around back in the OG THG days you’ll remember how excited we all were to get our first glimpse of the character posters and the thrill of each poster release. Anyone remember the poster puzzle hunt??

Happy Hunger Games day to all who celebrate!

A Behind The Scenes Tour of 'The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes' Set

Get excited, tributes! Rachel Zegler (Lucy Gray Baird) is your tour guide on the set of The Hunger Games: Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. The behind the scenes video, featuring Tom Blyth, Peter Dinklage, Ashley Liao, Josh Rivera, Nina Jacobson & more was filmed by @guywithamoviecamera and shared on tiktok. 

Rachel tweeted to stay tuned for more fun content from now until the release of the film on November 17, 2023!

Here are a few screencaps from the video so you can get a good look at all the details:

Click to read more ...