Today, Deadline announced that a prequel Hunger Games film is in the works based on the Suzanne Collins’ novel. The original saga which starred Jennifer Lawrence as the heroine Katniss Everdeen in a teenage ‘Battle Royal’ grossed over 2.97 billion at the worldwide box office. This was when every studio was trying to have their own young adult novel film series after the success of Twilight. Other films included the Divergent series and The Maze Runner series. Lionsgate is in the process of acquiring the upcoming prequel from the author as they developed the previous films.
Joe Drake of the Lionsgate mentions “As the proud home of the Hunger Games movies, we can hardly wait for Suzanne’s next book to be published. We’ve been communicating with her during the writing process and we look forward to continuing to work closely with her on the movie,”
The upcoming prequel will be set the world of Panem 64 years before the events of The Hunger Games. Which would explain the fall of society and the rise of the ritualistic event.
The upcoming prequel novel is slated to hit shelves May 19th, 2020. The film currently has no set release date.