Even before The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part Two wrapped up the tale of Jennifer Lawrence’s Katniss Everdeen in 2016, talk had begun on how Lionsgate could continue making movies based on the literary world created by Suzanne Collins. After all, having grossed just shy of $3 billion from four movies, it’s easy to see how Lionsgate Films would want to keep the franchise alive. However, nothing happened at the time, with Lawrence indicating that she would not be involved as it was “too soon. They’ve got to let the body get cold, in my opinion”. Well, the body got properly cold but now Collins is thawing it out again.
The author announced via press release that she is busy with a new Hunger Games prequel novel set to be release on 19 May 2020. There won’t be any Katniss here though as this novel will be set 64 years before the events of her original trilogy, telling of a failed rebellion in the early days of Panem, the post-apocalyptic North America that is the setting of her story.
With this book, I wanted to explore the state of nature, who we are, and what we perceive is required for our survival. The reconstruction period 10 years after the war, commonly referred to as the Dark Days — as the country of Panem struggles back to its feet — provides fertile ground for characters to grapple with these questions and thereby define their views of humanity.
And don’t expect to wait too long to see the events of this prequel novel play out on screen, as Lionsgate Chairman Joe Drake has already indicated the studio’s plans for the as of yet untitled novel.
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.
There’s no further word yet on the film adaptation details, which is not surprising given the early stage of things. Original franchise director Francis Lawrence indicated last year that he would be willing to return to helm more Hunger Games movies but only if it was based on Collins’ work and she was involved. Well, now that is actually happening.
Collins’ original three books (The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, and The Mockingjay) sold more than 100 million copies worldwide, and this upcoming prequel will be her first entry in the series since she finished it in 2010. Collins has only published one other novel since then, a picture book based on her father’s time in Vietnam titled Year of the Jungle, so this is a big deal for her fans.
Last Updated: June 18, 2019
Original Heretic
June 18, 2019 at 08:40
I kinda hate this. Kinda a lot.
What is with these authors that keep wanting to write prequels? Can’t they come up with new stuff?!
Pariah
June 18, 2019 at 08:49
Some people want to know more about their favourite stories and characters. Prequels et. al. are in fact popular amongst fans. Who’d have thunk that authors would create stuff that their fans would buy?
Original Heretic
June 18, 2019 at 09:10
But that’s part of the problem. They do these prequels, some people get excited, then the story sucks.
How many prequel stories have actually been really brilliant? The ones I can think of right now all fell far short of the original story.
Pariah
June 18, 2019 at 09:40
The problem isn’t the prequel. It’s the cash-grab nature of capitalism that leads to sub-par prequels and movie tie-ins for a quick buck… Don’t hate on the prequels, hate on the capitalism game.
Original Heretic
June 18, 2019 at 09:48
But I do hate prequels. Very much because of what Hammer said below.
Part of the magic of a story is uncovering the past. You hear that these people are legends because of stuff they did way back, etc. To suddenly go and write a whole book about THOSE events takes some of the magic away.
Pariah
June 18, 2019 at 10:20
So what you’re saying is you’d rather hear about great stories than actually watch the stories themselves? Like, a passing two-liner is amazing and magical, but a movie fleshing that out isn’t?
I get it, the magic is in your imagination. But the reality is that the author has their vision for a story, and your imagination will likely never yield the same results. But seeing the story from the original author’s point of view has its own value, so long as the author puts the same effort into it (ie: not a cash grab). It’s the hype vs reality thing, and the fault isn’t the prequels, it’s the expectations and imagination of fans expecting those prequels to fulfill their own desires, rather than the author’s.
Original Heretic
June 18, 2019 at 10:28
I’m all for a good story, regardless of the source or inspiration.
But very often the prequels ARE just cash grabs. And it also represents laziness on the part of the author, IMO. Instead of working on new material, they seek the safe haven of familiar works, worlds they have already built.
A fully fleshed out story is great, yes, but not if I doesn’t add anything to the overall story mythos.
For the Emperor!
June 18, 2019 at 08:56
My problem this time is more with the fact that the book is not even written yet, and the studio is trying to cash in already. What if the book is a dud? Or this is not the prequel that the fans wanted*? Pfff
* looking at Solo here. Most wanted the Obi Wan Kenobi story, or something about Maul. We all know Pariah was clamoring for a Jar Jar story!
Matthew Holliday
June 18, 2019 at 11:27
Generally I dont mind this, the worlds that authors build are often times the best part of the books.
Take Harry Potter for example, Rowling built a stellar world, the world built the characters and reading about the world was sometimes more interesting than the story itself. Stuff like just walking around the school or diagon alley.
And when Fantastic beasts was released, seeing a different culture living in that world, seeing that world from the perspective of a different age group, seeing the US ministry and creatures that were left out of the books and/or movies, those were the best parts.
Just seeing more of that world. When there are other characters that have stories to tell, that arent just jammed in there to drum up some cash. Sure, oftentimes its just fanservice, but sometimes thats nice, an author being as invested in that world as the readers are, is nice.
However, when authors want to reboot a dead franchise, a franchise that has no fans left to service, where the characters were bland and the rest of the worlds stories are just more of the same, where the world and its possibilities have been exhausted, then yeah, meh.
Hunger Games is one of those “meh” franchises. The story is played out, the characters are played out and when youre writing a book set 63 befor the original series, about characters that we have never heard about and arent relevant to the original story, it becomes disconnected from that world, and then, what even is the point?
This isnt the story anyone wanted to read.
Llama In The Rift
June 18, 2019 at 09:25
Not gonna watch or read it so does not bother me.
CrAiGiSh
June 18, 2019 at 10:13
Stop … get help.
Guz
June 18, 2019 at 09:18
Meh :/