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Viola Davis is set to antagonize Rachel Zegler in Lionsgate's Hunger Games prequel The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Davis will play Dr. Volumnia Gaul, the head gamemaker of the 10th annual Hunger Games. The actor, who is best known for portraying Amanda Waller in the DC Extended Universe Suicide Squad films, joins a massive ensemble cast that includes Zegler, Tom Blyth and Peter Dinklage. "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," said Nathan Kahane, President of Lionsgate's Motion Picture Group. "Her formidable and powerful presence will add layers of complexity and menace to this story."
The Hunger Games franchise producer Nina Jacobson shared Kahane's excitement at Davis joining the prequel film's cast. "From the beginning, Viola has been our dream for Dr. Gaul because of the finely layered intelligence and emotion she brings to every role. A brilliant and eccentric strategist, Gaul is instrumental in shaping a young Coriolanus Snow into the man he will become," Jacobson stated. "We are incredibly fortunate to have an actor with Viola’s extraordinary range and presence to play this pivotal role."
What Is The Hunger Games Prequel About?
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes will be set several decades before the events of the original film quadrilogy and before Blyth's Coriolanus Snow became the tyrannical President of Panem. The film will instead focus on an 18-year-old Snow, who is seen as the last hope for his fading lineage, a once-proud family that has fallen from grace in a post-war Capitol. The prequel will follow Snow as he is assigned to mentor District 12 tribute Lucy Gray Baird (Zegler) in the 10th annual Hunger Games. "After 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. Uniting their instincts for showmanship and newfound political savvy, Snow and Lucy’s race against time to survive will ultimately reveal who is a songbird and a snake," reads the film's official synopsis.
Davis, Blyth, Zegler and Dinklage star in Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes alongside an impressive ensemble cast that includes Hunter Schafer, Jason Schwartzman, Irene Boehm, Cooper Dillon, Luna Kuse, Kjell Brutscheidt, Dimitri Abold, Athena Strates, Dakota Shapiro, George Somner and Vaughan Reilly, among others.
The film is scheduled to open in theaters on Nov. 17, 2023.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter