The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes on Showmax
24 March 2025

The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes (2023)

The Hunger Games prequel The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes is set 64 years before Katniss Everdeen volunteered as tribute. 

Decades 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 girls’ tribute from impoverished District 12. But Snow thinks he might be able to turn the odds in their favour. 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.

Led by Tom Blyth (Billy the Kid) as Snow, and Golden Globe winner Rachel Zegler (West Side Story, Snow White) as Lucy, the film’s cast includes Oscar winner Viola Davis (The Woman King), four-time Emmy winner Peter Dinklage (Game of Thrones), Hunter Schafer (Euphoria), and Jason Schwartzman (Asteroid City). Also look out for Kenyan-born newcomer Eike Onyambu as Tam Amber.

The fifth instalment in a multi-award-winning mega-franchise that’s grossed over $3 billion worldwide, The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes was hailed by USA Today as “the best Hunger Games movie of them all” and named The Action Movie of the Year at the 2024 People's Choice Awards, where Zegler won Action Movie Star of the Year. 

You can also binge the first four movies on Showmax.

Share:

More like this

Chicago PD S12 on Showmax

Chicago PD S12

Action-packed spin-off of the Chicago series, following two different units at the Chicago police department: uniformed cops and the Intelligence Unit.

Gerard Butler as 'Big Nick' O'Brien and O’Shea Jackson Jr. as Donnie Wilson in Den of Thieves 2: Panthera. Photo Credit: Rico Torres.

Gerard Butler and O’Shea Jackson Jr chat about Den of Thieves 2: Pantera

Expect “gorilla” war as Big Nick and Donnie team up in heist movie Den of Thieves 2: Pantera! “A silverback gorilla like Nick needs another silverback gorilla to wrestle with,” hints Gerard Butler.

Den of Thieves: Pantera is on Showmax

Den of Thieves: Pantera (2025)

In this sequel, Big Nick gets ensnared by diamond thieves and the notorious Panther Mafia as he pursues the elusive career criminal Donnie Wilson.

Showmax is proud to announce the exclusive streaming premiere of September 5, a gripping documentary that has earned a remarkable list of accolades.

Showmax presents September 5: A riveting look at a pivotal moment in news history

Showmax is proud to announce the streaming premiere of September 5, a gripping documentary that has earned a remarkable list of accolades.

Made in South Africa
Love Lies and Hybrids on Showmax

12 South African movies you've probably never seen

Sci-fi, drama, sex, romance, comedy - these homegrown hidden gems have it all. Stream them all on Showmax.

Made in South Africa
Lee on Showmax

17 movies where life writes the plot

Watch actress Kate Winslet pick up the camera to play photographer Lee Miller, then stream 16 more movies that are snapshots of real people’s lives.

September 5 on Showmax

September 5 (2025)

This Oscar-nominated retelling of a historical tragedy follows the sports broadcasting crew that captured the 1972 Munich Olympics hostage crisis.

Reenboogrant is on Showmax

Ace your Matric exams with 10 Afrikaans series and movies

Looking for the less-sweat, more-fun way to study? Brush up your Afrikaans before exam time with these shows and movies.

Made in South Africa

Laugh Africa Comedy Festival S2 on Showmax

Youngins S3, coming soon to Showmax