This morning, Lionsgate announced that Game of Thrones star Peter Dinklage will be joining the cast of The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, the cinematic version of Suzanne Collins’s best-selling novel. Dinklage will appear alongside Tom Blyth and Rachel Zegler in the film as the Academy’s dean, Casca Highbottom. Dinklage’s appointment was announced today by Nathan Kahane, the President of Lionsgate’s Motion Picture Group, in a statement. Production has begun, and we couldn’t be happier to welcome Peter Dinklage to Panem.
Besides being a fan favourite, Peter is an actor who commands attention in every role he portrays. He’s one of the top actors in the business right now, in my opinion. In his new capacity as dean of the Academy, he will offer a powerful and charismatic authority.”
This adaptation of the original novel series stars Blyth as an impressionable, naive version of Panem’s dictatorial ruler Coriolanus Snow, while Zegler will portray District 12 tribute, Lucy Gray Baird.
Ashley Liao, Knox Gibson and Mackenzie Lansing have already been cast in the film’s ensemble cast as well as the previously announced Jerome Lance, Aamer Hussain and Nick Benson, Laurel Marsden, Luna Steeples and Hiroki Berrecloth, Jason Schwartzman, Max Raphael and Amélie Hoeferle, Kaitlyn Akinpelumi, Sofia Sanchez, Zoe Rene, Cooper Dillon, Luna Kuse and Kjell Brutscheidt. Dinklage is most known for his portrayal of Tyrion Lannister on HBO’s Game of Thrones, for which he has won four Emmy Awards and four nominations. His most recent role was as Cyrano in Joe Wright’s Cyrano, a 2021 movie. Brothers, starring Josh Brolin and Brendan Fraser, and She Came to Me, starring Anne Hathaway and Marisa Tomei, are two of his future projects. There are rumours circulating that Francis Lawrence will return to helm The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, the sequel to The Hunger Games.
Prior to Catching Fire, Lawrence helmed Mockingjay Parts One and Two, the third and fourth instalments in the series. There was an announcement from Lawrence, who stated of Dean Highbottom: “Dean Highbottom is one of the most influential individuals in Snow’s life. It’s up to him as the game’s cold, calculating face to define the rules that will determine the fate of Coriolanus in every way. As a fan of Peter’s work, I’m delighted that he’s bringing him to life.” Suzanne Collins and Oscar-winning screenwriter Michael Arndt wrote a prior draught of the film, and Michael Lesslie has written the newest version of the script. Longtime franchise producer Nina Jacobson is returning to the project as a producer alongside her longtime producing partner Brad Simpson, and Lawrence is also a producer. “I can’t conceive of an actor more perfectly suited to occupy the part of Highbottom,” Jacobson said in the casting announcement.
Casca Highbottom, the Dean of the Academy and the man credited with inventing the Hunger Games, is a complicated figure. With his charisma, intensity, and snarky humour, Peter will be able to bring to the part what it requires: intelligence, depth, and heart. Lionsgate executives Meredith Wieck and Scott O’Brien will supervise Collins, Tim Palen, and Jim Miller in their roles as executive producers.
November 17, 2023, is the international premiere date for The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.
The following is the official synopsis for the highly anticipated prequel to the hugely successful franchise:
Coriolanus Snow, at 18, is the final hope for his fading dynasty, a once-proud family that has fallen from prominence in a post-war Capitol. He is destined to become President of Panem. Snow is disturbed when he is assigned to teach Lucy Gray Baird, a female tribute from the poor District 12 who will compete in the 10th annual Hunger Games. Snow, on the other hand, believes that Lucy Gray’s bold singing at the reaping ritual will give them an edge. Snow and Lucy’s battle against time to live will expose who is a songbird and who is a serpent when they combine their instincts for theatrics with their newfound political expertise.