Tom Blyth Becomes The Main Actor In Hunger Games: The Ballad Of Songbirds And Snakes

Tom Blyth (FotoL IG @tomblyth)

JAKARTA - Lionsgate has appointed Tom Blyth as the main character in the film Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes which is set to be released in theaters on November 17, 2023. Blyth will play the younger version of President Coriolanus Snow in the prequel to The Hunger Games.

“Tom Blyth is a rising talent. His dazzling and charismatic presence makes him the perfect actor for this leading role," said the film's producer from the Lionsgate Motion Picture Group, quoted by Variety on Tuesday, May 17.

The prequel is based on Suzanne Collins' novel of the same name published in 2020. The story is set decades before the appearance of Katniss Everdeen (played by Jennifer Lawrence) in "The Hunger Games".

The character Snow is a tyrannical leader in a dystopian world known as Panem. The prequel story takes place when 18-year-old Snow is chosen to be a mentor during the 10th Hunger Games, a television show in which teenagers are selected through a lottery to fight to the death.

With the exception of Blyth, the rest of the prequel cast has yet to be announced. Along with Snow, the other main characters in the story include Lucy Gray Baird, a girl from an impoverished District 12 who is mentored by Snow.

Director Francis Lawrence will return to directing the upcoming film, which will begin production later this year. Michael Arndt, who wrote the second installment in the "Catching Fire" franchise, will co-wrote the screenplay with Michael Lesslie.

According to Lawrence, the character of Snow has a lot to tell considering that this character is a survivor of the Hunger Games. He describes Snow as a loyal and cruel friend, a child who quickly falls in love, and an ambitious young man.

"This character Tom plays shows us all the complex ambiguity of this young man as he turns into a tyrant in the end," he said.

Tom Blyth is best known for starring in the series Billy the Kid (2022) and The Gilded Age (2022).