In a recent interview with GQ, Schafer talks about her trans identity and how she doesn’t want that to be the main point of her roles moving forward. She says, “It’s been very intentional. I’ve gotten offered tons of trans roles, and I just don’t want to do it. I don’t want to talk about it.” She continues, “It took a while to learn that and it also took a while to learn that I don’t want to be [reduced to] that, and I find it ultimately demeaning to me and what I want to do. Especially after high school, I was sick of talking about it. I worked so hard to get to where I am, past these really hard points in my transition, and now I just want to be a girl and finally move on.”

With LGBTQ+ representation being a lightning rod for alt-right, anti-woke sentiment online, Schafer also does admit that there has been pressure for her to be some sort of spokesperson for the trans community, to which she says:

“I know for a fact that I’m one of the most famous trans people in media right now, and I do feel a sense of responsibility, and maybe a little bit of guilt, for not being more of a spokesperson… But ultimately, I really do believe that not making it the centerpiece to what I’m doing will allow me to get further. And I think getting further and doing awesome shit, in the interest of ‘the movement,’ will be way more helpful than talking about it all the time.”

Maybe down the line we can get to a point where casting a trans person would be no big deal, and the way that Schafer’s career has been going I think we’re heading down the right direction. In the meantime, we’ll just have to deal with the current situation of stunt-casting and anti-representation, but fingers crossed we’re closer to the ideal cultural norm.

I’m still crossing my fingers Schafer either gets cast as Princess Zelda in The Legend of Zelda or a live-action Spider-Gwen in a future Spider-Man movie. Make it happen, Sony!

For now, you can watch out for Schafer in Kinds of Kindness which comes out June 21.

The movie is set to come out this November, and we have a new trailer that gives us a look at the Hunger Games before it became the heartless spectacle that we saw back in 2012. Watch this:

Hunger Games fans will know Coriolanus Snow best as the main villain of the original Hunger Games films, but this prequel will have us seeing a more innocent version of the character years before he became the ruthless dictator everyone knows about.

As it turns out, Snow himself did have a little bit more humanity, but based on what we see in the trailers, it looks like he’s going to make a descent into a darker world, and it will have everything to do with him falling in love with tribute Lucy Gray Baird.

Though some would love this film to be another trilogy, I would be surprised if they managed to keep it as one contained story. After all, we know that the Hunger Games will still be around 60 years later, so it would be odd if the movie ended with some kind of cliffhanger or tease for more sequels.

Then again, that’s just my opinion.

Here’s the official description:

Experience the story of THE HUNGER GAMES — 64 years before Katniss Everdeen volunteered as tribute, and decades before Coriolanus Snow became the tyrannical President of Panem.

THE HUNGER GAMES: THE BALLAD OF SONGBIRDS & SNAKES follows a young Coriolanus (Tom Blyth) who is the last hope for his failing lineage, the once-proud Snow family that has fallen from grace in a post-war Capitol. With his livelihood threatened, Snow is reluctantly assigned to mentor Lucy Gray Baird (Rachel Zegler), a tribute from the impoverished District 12. But after Lucy Gray’s charm captivates the audience of Panem, Snow sees an opportunity to shift their fates. With everything he has worked for hanging in the balance, Snow unites with Lucy Gray to turn the odds in their favor. Battling his instincts for both good and evil, Snow sets out on a race against time to survive and reveal if he will ultimately become a songbird or a snake.

The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is set to hit cinemas on Nov. 17.

As announced by Zegler on her Twitter, The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes has wrapped filming. Here’s the post:

i have loved every second.
and that’s a wrap. pic.twitter.com/1rHmOVA4hM

— rachel zegler (she/her/hers) (@rachelzegler) November 5, 2022

With the story taking place decades before Katniss Everdeen broke the wheel of the Capitol, Zegler plays the character of Lucy Gray Baird, a tribute girl from District 12. Though Lucy is considered to be the co-protagonist of the film, we’re also going to be following a young Coriolanus Snow (Tom Blyth) as he learns to play the Capitol’s game and sets the stage for himself becoming one of the most ruthless leaders of Panem.

With the film coming out in November of next year, it could be a while before we get a new trailer, but fingers crossed we get a teaser before the year ends—especially now that filming has wrapped.

Here’s the official description for the film.

Return to The Hunger Games, the landmark film franchise that has earned over $3 billion globally, with Lionsgate’s adaptation of Suzanne Collins’ #1 New York Times Bestseller The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. Years before he would become the tyrannical President of Panem, 18-year-old Coriolanus Snow (Tom Blyth) is the last hope for his fading lineage, a once-proud family that has fallen from grace in a post-war Capitol. With the 10th annual Hunger Games fast approaching, the young Snow is alarmed when he is assigned to mentor Lucy Gray Baird (Rachel Zegler), the girl tribute from impoverished District 12. But, 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 Gray’s race against time to survive will ultimately reveal who is a songbird, and who is a snake.

Catch The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes when it hits theaters Nov. 17, 2023.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Jason Schwartzman (Scott Pilgrim vs. The World) has been cast as Lucretius “Lucky” Flickerman, host of the 10^th Hunger Games and possible ancestor to the original trilogy’s Caesar Flickerman.

In the original Hunger Games, Caesar Flickerman’s job was to help ‘sell’ the Tributes to the audience by making them more likeable and bringing out their best during interviews. While Flickerman was a voice of the Capitol, it was said that there was some sympathy directed toward his character because he had also helped the Tributes cope with the Games.

We don’t know exactly how Schwartzman will pull of his Lucky Flickerman, but I imagine he’s also going to be decked in colorful outfits and brushing off the notion of a brutal death like it was nothing.

Here’s the synopsis:

“Years before he would become the tyrannical President of Panem, 18-year-old Coriolanus Snow is the last hope for his fading lineage, a once-proud family that has fallen from grace in a post-war Capitol. With the 10th annual Hunger Games fast approaching, the young Snow is alarmed when he is assigned to mentor Lucy Gray Baird, the girl tribute from impoverished District 12. But, 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.”

The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Sonbirds and Snakes comes to theaters on Nov. 17, 2023.

As per Deadline, a Lionsgate company quarterly earnings call has revealed that the movie The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is set to start production in the first half of 2022, and is aiming to release the film sometime in 2023 or early 2024. We don’t have much specifics on the film, but it’s said that the movie is “moving along really, really well.”

In the book The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, we follow the story of an 18-year-old Coriolanus Snow who has been tasked to mentor a young girl from District 12 for the 10^th Hunger Games. Here’s the official synopsis:

It is the morning of the reaping that will kick off the tenth annual Hunger Games. In the Capitol, eighteen-year-old Coriolanus Snow is preparing for his one shot at glory as a mentor in the Games. The once-mighty house of Snow has fallen on hard times, its fate hanging on the slender chance that Coriolanus will be able to outcharm, outwit, and outmaneuver his fellow students to mentor the winning tribute.

The odds are against him. He’s been given the humiliating assignment of mentoring the female tribute from District 12, the lowest of the low. Their fates are now completely intertwined — every choice Coriolanus makes could lead to favor or failure, triumph or ruin. Inside the arena, it will be a fight to the death. Outside the arena, Coriolanus starts to feel for his doomed tribute . . . and must weigh his need to follow the rules against his desire to survive no matter what it takes.

Admittedly, there are some readers who aren’t a big fan of the books, but it does offer some great insight on the original franchise’s villain. Though I’m sure some fans would want a return of Jennifer Lawrence’s Katniss, I think it would be hard to work into the film because it takes place 50 years before she was born. Maybe they can make her the narrator for the film, but even then that could be considered a cheap move.

No official release date has been set for The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.