The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes: The Biggest Differences Between the Book and Movie

A ballad about songbirds and snakes it goes from book to screen.

Based on the novel of the same name by Suzanne Collins, the new film serves as a prequel to the hit Hunger Games franchise. Following a young Coriolan Snow before he became the President of Panem, it takes place during the 10th annual Hunger Games as Snow is chosen as a mentor to District 12’s honorary named Lucy Gray.

As the previous one Hunger Games films, the film adaptation remains incredibly faithful to the book, right down to the iconic quotes. However, with A ballad about songbirds and snakes since it is over 500 pages, a few things had to be changed to fit the film’s running time of 2 hours and 38 minutes.

As a result, producer Nina Jacobson tells PEOPLE that Collins played a key role in helping adapt the script. “With Suzanne, part of the reason we work so closely with her is that she writes on the subject and knows what’s important about her characters,” says Jacobson. “Each of these characters represents a very specific point of view, and she wanted to make sure those ideas made it to the screen.”

“Because she wrote these books watching the polarization of our country and seeing the way people turn on each other with such ferocity and such intolerance, it was so important to her that we never fall into the trap of that person being a songbird, that person is a snake , that we are always both. We can find commonalities with each other,” she adds. “When we assume that one of us is good and the other is evil, we’re vulnerable, and that polarization is actually key to giving power to people who shouldn’t have it.”

Read below for the biggest differences between the book and the movie A ballad about songbirds and snakes.

Warning: Major spoilers for A ballad about songbirds and snakes forward.

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The film begins with the Dark Days

Lionsgate

The film opens with a flashback of young Coriolanus Snow and his cousin Tigris during the dark days, when the Capitol was in ruins and food was scarce. As they search for scraps of bread, they see a man cutting off the limb of a dead woman in the street, insinuating that some Capitol residents resorted to cannibalism during the war.

Although the scene in the book unfolds very similarly, it comes later in the text; the book begins following Snow as he prepares to head to the Academy for Harvest Day.

Snow’s father was killed by a rebel from District 12

Murray Close/Lionsgate

In the book, Snow reveals that his father, Crassus Snow, was an army general who was killed by a rebel during the First Rebellion.

However, the film goes one step further; his grandmother says he was killed by a rebel District 12. The small change only further foreshadows President Snow’s ultimate hatred for Lucy Gray and Katniss’ home district in the original franchise.

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The Plinth Award is announced very early

Lionsgate

As Snow leaves for the Academy in one of the film’s opening scenes, he has high hopes of taking home the Plinth Prize, a prize money created by Strabo Plinth, a former District 2 citizen who was able to buy his family a way to the Capitol after supplying them with military weapons during the war. .

Given his family’s financial situation, Snow is very hopeful that he will receive an award that will provide him with enough funds to attend university. However, as the students are seated, Sejanus apologizes to Snow, letting him know that there has been a change of plans for this year’s prize winner.

The introduction to the Plinth Award in the book plays out much differently. Strabo Plinth doesn’t announce his plans for the reward until about halfway through The Hunger Games after his son Sejan sneaks into the arena and nearly kills him and Snow. As Snow says in the book, it was “a hasty attempt to bury his son’s outrageous behavior in cash.”

Having mentors in The Hunger Games is a surprise

Murray Close/Lionsgate

Another small change at the beginning of the film is the news that Academy students will serve as mentors in The Hunger Games. In the book, Snow was already chosen as a mentor because he was one of the best students in his class, but in the movie, the introduction of the mentor is a big shock.

As Dr. Gaul takes the stage, he reveals that instead of awarding the Plinth Award to the best student, the award will be given to the most promising student as a mentor in the games, with Dean Highbottom later adding that their job is to make the accolades into spectacles, not survivors .

Snow and Sejan work together to feed the presents

Courtesy of Lionsgate

Snow and Sejanus’ alliance to help pay tribute looks a little different on screen. In the movie Snow and Sejanus make a plan together, but in the book everything was Sejanus’ idea. The only reason Snow even goes along with it is because he doesn’t want Sejanus to be the center of attention from the zoo’s reporters.

The characters of Lepidus and Lucky are combined

Murray Close/Courtesy of Lionsgate

Lucretius “Lucky” Flickerman, weather forecaster for the Capitol and ancestor of Caesar Flickerman from the original franchise, serves as the first host of The Hunger Games. Although Lucky is chosen to conduct interviews for the games, most of the live coverage of the zoo tributes is done by a Capitol News reporter named Lepidus Malmsey in the book.

However, in the film their characters are somewhat combined as Lucky also interviews the devotees at the zoo. Additionally, Lucky’s pet parrot Jubilee does not appear in the film, although Lucky still performs magic tricks.

Clemensia’s fate was never revealed

Lionsgate

Perhaps one of the biggest differences in the film is that Clemensia’s fate after being bitten by one of Dr. Gaul’s snakes is never revealed. Instead, her character’s story was shortened and she does not appear again.

In the books, however, Clemensia survives but has strange side effects from the snakebite. While being treated at the hospital after the arena bombing, Snow comes face-to-face with Clemensia, revealing that her eyes have turned yellow, her tongue occasionally sticks out of her mouth, and she has developed iridescent snake-like scales.

After her stay in the hospital, she returns as a mentor in The Hunger Games, although her demeanor has completely changed as she becomes irritable and cold towards her colleagues.

Some deaths in The Hunger Games happen differently

Lionsgate

A handful of character deaths were altered in the film. For example, the causes of Wovey’s and Dill’s deaths were switched. In the book, Wovey actually drinks poisoned water, while Dill simply dies from complications caused by tuberculosis.

Additionally, Reaper’s death plays out differently. In the book, Reaper manages to avoid Dr. Gaul’s rainbow snakes, and the competition comes down to him and Lucy Gray. In their final confrontation, Lucy Gray tries to tire out the Reaper, knowing that he had previously acquired rabies from Jessup. In the end, Reaper meets his death when he drinks water from a puddle, not realizing that Lucy Gray has contaminated it with rat poison.

Snow’s time as a Peacemaker is drawing to a close

Lionsgate

Various events from Snow’s time as a Peacemaker happen a little differently in the books. In the film, Snow meets Sejanus again on the train to District 12, however, in the book, Sejanus does not appear until later. In fact, Snow contemplates suicide when Sejanus shows up and reveals that he has also signed up as a Peacekeeper.

Additionally, Snow’s orders to go to District 2 are revealed much earlier in the film, whereas in the book Snow doesn’t learn of his transport plans until after he agrees to elope with Lucy Gray.

Lucy Gray and Snow’s confrontation at the cabin happens differently

Lionsgate

The conversation between Lucy Gray and Snow in the cabin takes place differently in the film. After Snow finds the weapon in the cabin, Lucy Gray comments that he now has no free parties to stop him from returning to his past life in the Capitol – except for her. The moment feels like Lucy Gray is testing Snow to see if he is truly trustworthy.

However, in the book, Snow and Lucy Gray do not confront each other after he finds the weapon, and the theme of “untied ends” occurs in his own internal monologue as he begins to question whether or not Lucy Gray is trustworthy and wonders if she will expose him for Mayfair’s death if he returns to District 2 without her — leading to their final showdown in the woods.

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Source: HIS Education