Lionsgate is certainly teasing us ahead of next month’s release of The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes. The studio has debuted Rachel Zegler’s incredible new rendition of “The Hanging Tree”, a song made famous by Jennifer Lawrence in the original Hunger Games trilogy.
The brand new version of the song, which features in the film, will also be the centrepiece of the soundtrack album. The album is due for release on November 17, 2023 to coincide with the film landing in cinemas.
Fans will notice a stark contrast between Zegler’s more country styling when compared to Lawrence’s sombre performance in The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part One. With one telling and tale and the other recalling the crimes of the past. Both are incredible versions.
Listen to the song in full in the player below:
The film follows a young Coriolanus (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 (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 favour. 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.
Francis Lawrence returns to direct the prequel which stars Tom Blyth, Rachel Zegler, Peter Dinklage, Hunter Schafer, Josh Andrés Rivera, Jason Schwartzman and Viola Davis.
Only in cinemas on November 17, 2023.
