James Newton Howard (King Kong, Maleficent, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, The Sixth Sense, Signs) is set to score the upcoming film adaptation of Suzanne Collins’ novel The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. The movie, which serves as a prequel to The Hunger Games series, is directed by Francis Lawrence and stars Tom Blyth, Rachel Zegler, Josh Andrés Rivera, Hunter Schafer, Jason Schwartzman Irene Boehm, Cooper Dillon, Luna Kuse, Kjell Brutscheidt, Athena Strates, Dimitri Abold, Dakota Shapiro, George Somner and Vaughan Reilly. Lawrence is also producing the project with Nina Jacobson & Brad Simpson (Crazy Rich Asians, American Crime Story). Howard has previously scored the first four The Hunger Games movies (three of which were helmed by Lawrence) and also collaborated with Lawrence on the features I Am Legend, Water for Elephants and Red Sparrow. The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is set to be released on November 17, 2023 by Lionsgate.
Howard also has Lucasfilm’s Disney+ series Willow (set to debut on November 30, 2022) & Light & Magic (premiering on July 27, 2022) coming up. He is also attached to score the Netflix limited series All the Light We Cannot See.
I see no other choice in the matter. He started it all.