Francis Lawrence isn’t exactly a stranger to dystopian chaos. The guy directed three out of four Hunger Games movies and a bunch of music videos where the only thing more dangerous than the lyrics were the camera angles. But this time, he’s stepping back into Panem’s blood-soaked sandbox with a twist: making us feel bad for President Snow. That’s right – The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is a villain origin story that almost makes you root for the guy.
“You know, we sort of know how it ends,” Lawrence tells me. “I mean, he eventually becomes a bad guy. So it’s really about how we get there.” In other words, making people root for a future fascist dictator takes some finesse. “The trick was making sure that we created a character that we could get the audience behind, that we could get the audience rooting for and empathizing with,” he says.
Tom Blyth, the poor soul tasked with making Snow likeable, apparently nailed it. “Tom’s just so good,” Lawrence says, sounding like he’s still a little surprised by it. “You have to believe that darkness is in there from the beginning. That way, when he eventually goes dark, it feels honest and authentic.”
While the first trilogy was loaded with pop anthems and rebellion ballads, this one’s got a different vibe. It’s more front porch, less arena rock. Lawrence tapped Dave Cobb for that Appalachian touch. “Suzanne Collins had a really strong sense of what the music was going to be like,” he says. “District 12 is basically West Virginia, and Cobb just got it. He brought in this great band, recorded in a house in Savannah to keep it raw and real.” Rachel Zegler, already known for her vocals in West Side Story, tackled the songs live on set. “We didn’t know how much fine-tuning we’d have to do to get that sound, but she just got it,” Lawrence says.
That includes a revamped version of “The Hanging Tree” – because why not make the most iconic song from the original movies even darker? “You get to see the origin of ‘The Hanging Tree,’” he says. “Lucy Gray writes it after witnessing a hanging at the actual tree. We even shifted a note here or there to make it slightly different from the version Katniss sings.”
For all the darkness, it’s the social commentary that lingers. “The first set of books were all about the consequence of war,” Lawrence explains. “This one’s about polarization – how people are pushed to extremes. It’s about whether we’re innately savage or good. And sadly, that’s always relevant.”
Then there’s Viola Davis, Peter Dinklage, and Jason Schwartzman chewing up scenery like they’ve got something to prove. “Jason really built that character with me,” Lawrence says. “We pulled from newscasters, vaudeville magicians, weathermen – he just tried different things and made it all work.” Davis, meanwhile, pretty much just showed up, killed it, and went home. “With Viola, it’s like, here’s what we’re going for – and then you just let her do her thing.”
You’d think by now the Hunger Games universe would be a little stale. But here’s Francis Lawrence, making us care about a fascist dictator while plucking banjos in the background. Who knew that was the move?
Watch the interview above and then check out the trailer below.
