Sean Marshall Deadline reported today that Lionsgate added Peter Dinklage to the cast of their upcoming prequel to The Hunger Games, The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. Dinklage will play Casca Highbottom, the Dean of the Academy and the unintentional creator of the Hunger Games.
Francis Lawrence, director of the film, had this to say about Dinklage joining the film: “Dean Highbottom is one of the most powerful people in Snow’s life. As the austere and vindictive face of the games, he sets the rules that will determine every aspect of Coriolanus’s fate. I’m thrilled that Peter will be bringing him to life.“
Nathan Kahane, President of Lionsgate’s Motion Picture Group, said: “With production underway, we couldn’t be more excited about the way this cast has come together and thrilled to be welcoming Peter Dinklage to Panem. Peter is not just a fan favorite actor who brings a commanding presence to every part he plays. He is one of the best actors alive. He will bring a formidable, charismatic authority to the important role of the Dean of the Academy.”
Producer Nina Jacobson added: “I cannot think of an actor more perfectly suited to inhabit the role of Highbottom. As the man credited with conceiving the Hunger Games and the Dean of the Academy, Casca Highbottom is a character with secrets. Peter’s magnetism, intensity, and dark humor will infuse him with the intelligence, depth, and pathos that the role demands.”
Lawrence will direct the film. Michael Arndt will write the script, while Jacobson and Suzanne Collins are locked in as producers. Collins, Tim Palen, and Jim Miller are tied to the film as executive producers. The film stars Tom Blyth, Rachel Zegler, Jerome Lance, Knox Gibson, Mackenzie Lansing, Ashley Liao, Hunter Schafer, Aamer Husain, Jason Schwartzman, Sophia Sanchez, Tom Blyth, Rachel Zegler, Jerome Lance, Knox Gibson, Mackenzie Lansing, Ashley Liao, Hunter Schafer, & Aamer Husain. The film will hit theaters on November 17, 2023.
Years before he would become the tyrannical President of Panem, 18-year-old Coriolanus Snow (Tom Blyth) 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 (Rachel Zegler), 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 Gray’s race against time to survive will ultimately reveal who is a songbird, and who is a snake.
