The upcoming prequel The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes has found its villain. Per Deadline, Viola Davis has just boarded the cast of the feature film, set to play the role of Head Gamemaker Volumnia Gaul. She joins previously announced cast members including Tom Blyth, Rachel Zegler, Hunter Schafer, Peter Dinklage, Jason Schwartzman, and Laurel Marsden.
“The Hunger Games films have always been elevated by their exceptional casting, and we are thrilled to be continuing that tradition with Viola Davis as Volumnia Gaul,” Lionsgate Motion Picture Group President Nathan Kahane said in a statement. “Her formidable and powerful presence will add layers of complexity and menace to this story.”
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Director Francis Lawrence added, “Dr. Gaul is as cruel as she is creative and as fearsome as she is formidable. Snow’s savvy as a political operator develops in no small part due to his experiences with her as the games’ most commanding figure.”
“From the beginning, Viola has been our dream for Dr. Gaul because of the finely layered intelligence and emotion she brings to every role,” producer Nina Jacobson said. “A brilliant and eccentric strategist, Gaul is instrumental in shaping a young Coriolanus Snow into the man he will become. We are incredibly fortunate to have an actor with Viola’s extraordinary range and presence to play this pivotal role.”
It’s a big win for the cast of the prequel to land Davis. An Oscar, Emmy, and Tony Award winner, Davis was recently seen in movies like Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, The Unforgivable, and The Suicide Squad. She has several upcoming projects already in the works as well, which includes returning as Amanda Waller in Black Adam as well as a planned Suicide Squad spinoff. Along with appearing in an upcoming Nike movie from Ben Affleck, Davis also produced and stars in the upcoming film The Woman King.
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes Serves as a Prequel to The Hunger Games
Lionsgate Entertainment
Serving as a prequel to the previous feature films led by Jennifer Lawrence, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes takes place about 64 years beforehand. It follows Coriolanus Snow as an 18-year-old who will one day rise as the main villain played by Donald Sutherland in the prior films. The stories in the Hunger Games series focus on an annual tournament where two youths from 12 different districts are chosen at random to fight to the death for the sake of bloody entertainment.
Nina Jacobson and Brad Simpson are producing the movie alongside director Francis Lawrence, who helmed the previous three films of the franchise. Original author Suzanne Collins is executive producing with Tim Palen and Jim Miller. Michael Lesslie scripted the latest draft following a previous draft by Michael Arndt.
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes will be released in movie theaters on Nov. 17, 2023. It’s safe to presume that more movies will follow if this prequel manages to find the same levels of success as the original film.
