West Side Story actor Josh Andrés Rivera has joined Lionsgate’s Hunger Games prequel, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.
Rivera will play Sejanus Plinth, the mentor to a tribute from District 2 and a close friend of young Coriolanus Snow, who will be played by Tom Blyth in the feature. Rivera will also be reuniting onscreen with West Side Story co-star Rachel Zegler, who will be playing Lucy Gray, the girl tribute from impoverished District 12.
The adaptation of Suzanne Collins’ novel will debut in theaters worldwide Nov. 17, 2023. Lionsgate’s four-film Hunger Games franchise had earned over $3 billion globally when it wrapped up in 2014, and it is now looking to extend the life span with the adaptation of Collins’ latest novel in the dystopian series, The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. The Wrap first reported the news.
Francis Lawrence, who directed three of the four Hunger Games movies — Catching Fire, Mockingjay Part One and Mockingjay Part Two — is back in the helmer’s seat with franchise producer Nina Jacobson and her partner Brad Simpson back as producers. Lawrence is also producing. Collins, Tim Palen, and Jim Miller exec produce. Michael Lesslie wrote the latest draft of the screneplay.
The prequel’s logline from Lionsgate reads: “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 who is a snake.”
Rivera, a seasoned stage actor with credits that include Hamilton, broke out onscreen as Chano in the Steven Spielberg remake of West Side Story. He will next be seen in Susanna Fogel’s adaptation of the viral New Yorker story Cat Person. He is represented by Paradigm, Silver Lining Entertainment, and Jackoway Austen.
Source: Hollywood
