Are the odds in Rachel Zegler’s favor?
The 21-year-old West Side Story actress, who is also Disney’s live-action Snow White in the upcoming adaptation, stars in the first teaser trailer for the Hunger Games prequel movie The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. The trailer debuted at CinemaCon 2023 on Thursday.
Set 64 years before the Jennifer Lawrence films, Songbirds and Snakes stars Zegler as Lucy Gray Baird, a tribute from District 12 who is assigned 18-year-old Coriolanus Snow (Tom Blyth) as a mentor in the 10th annual fight-to-the-death Games. (President Snow was portrayed by Donald Sutherland in the previous films.)
The cast also includes Viola Davis, Peter Dinklage, Euphoria‘s Hunter Schafer, Jason Schwartzman and more.
![The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes](https://people.com/thmb/wcu0s3g7A0auuG6VZf8-GHTqHak=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(749x0:751x2):format(webp)/the-hunger-games-the-ballad-of-songbirds-snakes-081622-9eaa80170c134df690df51d9f331b728.jpg)
When Lucy Gray “commands all of Panem’s attention by defiantly singing during the reaping ceremony, Snow thinks he might be able to turn the odds in their favor,” according to an official synopsis. “Uniting their instincts for showmanship and newfound political savvy, Snow and Lucy Gray’s race against time to survive will ultimately reveal who is a songbird, and who is a snake.”
The film is based on author Suzanne Collins’ 2020 novel of the same name. Francis Lawrence, who directed the last three films in the series, returns to direct.
Lawrence previously said in a press release, “Like everybody, I first saw Rachel Zegler in West Side Story, and like everybody, I knew I was watching a star who would command the screen for a generation. Lucy Gray is a perfect match for her as an actress: the character is bold, independent and defiant, but also vulnerable, emotional and loving. Rachel will make this character unforgettable.”