Credit: Inside the StoryPop star and former Disney child star Olivia Rodrigo is joining forces with current Disney star Rachel Zegler for the upcoming Hunger Games prequel film, The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, and it’s finally been confirmed how.
Olivia Rodrigo is currently best known for huge radio hits like “Drivers License,” “Good 4 U,” and “Vampire,” but she began her career, like many other stars, as a child actor with Disney. For three seasons, she portrayed Paige Olvera in the Disney Channel series Bizaardvark and was later acclaimed for her performances on the Disney+ show High School Musical: The Musical: The Series.
Her massive success as a musician (and one of the few true rivals to Taylor Swift in popularity) has seemed to keep her out of other fields, but it turns out that she is going to be a part of The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, the much-anticipated reboot of the Jennifer Lawrence billion-dollar sci-fi franchise.
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‘The Hunger Games’ and Rachel Zegler
The new upcoming Hunger Games film will star Rachel Zegler as Lucy Gray Baird, a traveling musician, who finds herself in the unfortunate role of a Tribute approximately 60 years before Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) volunteers to be one).
Lucy Gray Baird is assigned a young Coriolanus Snow (Tom Blyth) as a mentor years before he becomes the ruthless President of Panem portrayed by Donald Sutherland in the original movies. The movie, adapted from the book by Suzanne Collins) promises to show an earlier side of how the Hunger Games developed and will co-star Peter Dinklage, Viola Davis, Jason Schwartzman, and Hunter Schafer.
Unquestionably, Lionsgate is hoping that this new movie will ignite a wave of interest in the Hunger Games franchise, which has been dormant since The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 (2015). Given that the series has grossed nearly $3 billion, it’s hard to blame the studio.
How Does Olivia Rodrigo Fit In?
The original Hunger Games movies were pop culture phenomenons and took advantage of every form of media possible. In particular, the series was known for recruiting pop singers like Taylor Swift and Lorde to perform haunting songs for the official soundtracks, and it turns out the prequel is using the same tactic.
Olivia Rodrigo fans were alerted to a potential new release several days ago when her official fan page Tweeted a phone emoji without explanation. Soon, a fan account Tweeted “+1 (323) 622-7687” with emojis of clouds, a dove, and an anatomical heart. Calling the number resulted in a snippet of a vocal-less new Rodrigo song. Fans of the singer were especially intrigued when Rachel Zegler liked the Tweet, many believing that this and the emojis confirmed that there was some connection to The Hunger Games.
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Now, Olivia Rodrigo herself has Tweet to confirm that she wrote a new song for The Hunger Games, a portion of which is currently being used to advertise the Rachel Zegler film. Rodrigo Tweeted, “soooo beyond excited that I got the opportunity to write a song for @TheHungerGames: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes. my song “Can’t Catch Me Now” comes out November 3rd!!!! ❤️”
soooo beyond excited that I got the opportunity to write a song for @TheHungerGames: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes. my song “Can’t Catch Me Now” comes out November 3rd!!!! ❤️ https://t.co/NJS4RCLeF4 pic.twitter.com/PsV0N5kEpj
— Olivia Rodrigo (@oliviarodrigo) November 1, 2023
It is unclear whether the “Bad Idea Right” singer will cameo in the film or if her contributions will solely be on the soundtrack, but this is clearly a sign she has not left Hollywood completely behind.
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