Hunger Games prequel movie, has to avoid repeating one big Harry Potter mistake at all costs. The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes will be based on Suzanne Collin's homonymous book published in 2020. The Hunger Games author narrates the story of Coriolanus Snow, who will become the president of the dystopic Panem and the future villain of the Hunger Games saga. Similarly to the way the Fantastic Beasts movies serve as a prequel to the Harry Potter saga and depicts a series of important events within the series' history, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes will show a pivotal moment in the history of Panem, with the establishment of the Hunger Games as the audience knows them.
As proven by the Fantastic Beasts movies, which essentially lead to the death of the Wizarding World franchise, releasing a prequel to an already established and highly successful saga is no easy task. In fact, just like it happened with Harry Potter and its prequel series, it may be tempting for The Ballard of Songbirds and Snakes to copy the original Hunger Games films. However, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes can learn from Fantastic Beasts experience and avoid repeating the big mistake of wanting to recreate the previous films' storylines and atmosphere, as well as focusing on legacy characters, in order to appeal to the original saga's audience and be successful. It's imperative that, whatever approach the movie takes, it doesn't just try to recapture what worked for the original, especially around which characters to focus on and how to use best use them.
The Ballad Of Songbird And Snakes Risks Repeating Hunger Games
The Ballad of Songbirds And Snakes has a lot in common with Hunger Games. Not only it is set in Panem like the original, but it also focuses on a young girl from District 12 who is determined to go back home after taking part in the Hunger Games, despite not being the favorite to win. Similarly to the first two Hunger Games films, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is also centered around the arena and the Hunger Games themselves. Therefore, the Hunger Games prequel must not repeat familiar plot lines and instead exist on its own.
Moreover, another mistake evident in the Fantastic Beasts franchise is that of relying too much on the familiarity of the franchise. As such, the story may risk focusing on characters that are well-known to the audience from the previous films and only mention other characters simply to refer back to the original saga. The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes has to be extra careful in doing this since it is set 64 years before the first Hunger Games films. Although there are Hunger Games characters alive during the prequel film that are extremely important to its plot line, the film will have to make sure not to overshadow the original characters in the story.
The Ballad Of Songbird And Snakes Has To Create Its Own Identity
In order to truly become a successful release, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes will have to establish itself as its own product and create its own identity, separate from that of the main series. What was successful about Hunger Games, above all else, was its originality, and it is only this element that the prequel should strive to imitate. The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes does have an advantage over Fantastic Beasts in the fact that its events are based on a book that can potentially exist as a standalone. Furthermore, Hunger Games, thus creating its own unique background which can fascinate viewers without copying its predecessor.
As mentioned, most of the audience will be familiar with at least the main character of The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. However, this presents a challenge in and of itself as Snow is not generally well-liked among Hunger Games viewers. Similarly to Fantastic Beasts, creating a prequel to a series with such an established history can be complex as the audience already knows how the story will go. Therefore, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes will have to make him interesting enough for its viewers to care about the character development of somebody who everybody knows will inevitably become a villain in the Hunger Games saga.
