“The Hunger Games” Prequel Lands SAG-AFTRA Interim Agreement

Rachel Zegler and Tom Blyth can officially welcome fans back to Panem.

The Hunger Games prequel “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” has received a tentative deal from SAG-AFTRA, meaning stars Ziegler, Blythe, Viola Davis, Peter Dinklage and Hunter Schaeffer are allowed to promote the film before it debuts in 2018. Theaters 17 November.

It is not clear why the agreement was granted so close to the film’s release date. But the recent increase in advertising could be a big help in getting people to go to the movies around Thanksgiving. Amid the ongoing strike, films with famous faces have emerged — such as the Sony comedy “Dumb Money” with Seth Rogen, Pete Davidson and America Ferrera, and the Kenneth Branagh film “A Haunting in Venice,” led by Jamie Dornan, Tina Fey and Michelle Yeoh. – They struggled at the box office without wet red carpets or late-night talk show appearances.

So far, more than 100 films including A24’s “Priscilla” and “The Iron Claw,” as well as Michael Mann’s racing drama “Ferrari,” have secured tentative deals amid the SAG-AFTRA strike. To obtain a temporary agreement, producers must act independently of affiliates of the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers and agree to terms proposed by the union in its negotiations. Because Lionsgate, which backs “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes,” is not part of the AMPTP, its films are eligible.

With the tentative agreement in place, the cast is expected to attend the film’s premieres in Berlin and London, as well as a fan event in Los Angeles. Besides press opportunities, the band has the freedom to post to the skies about the prequel on social media where Zegler, for example, has more than 1.2 million followers (and the phrase “SAG-AFTRA Strong” in her Instagram bio).

The upcoming film is based on Suzanne Collins’ novel, and is set decades before Katniss Everdeen appeared as the Girl on Fire in The Hunger Games. The prequel follows 18-year-old Coriolanus Snow (Blythe), who eventually becomes the tyrannical leader of the dystopia known as Panem. In “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes”, he is chosen to be a mentor to the tribute Lucy Gray Bird (Ziegler) during the Tenth Hunger Games, a televised event in which teenagers are chosen by lottery to fight to the death.