Is West Side Story’s Rachel Zegler Going to Star in the Hunger Games Prequel?

The story of Katniss Everdeen may be closed and shut, but we’re going to be getting a prequel focused on a young Coriolanus Snow called The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. We have yet to get any casting news, but it’s possible that the film has found its leading lady Lucy Gray Baird.

West Side Story lead Rachel Zegler posted this cryptic tweet, and though it doesn’t really mean much, some fans have deciphered that every first letter of the words spells out Lucy Gray Baird. Here’s the post:

listen up….. can y’all grow restfully? are you becoming an individual resting decisively?

— rachel zegler (she/her/hers) (@rachelzegler) May 30, 2022

Nothing official has been announced, but it’s a pretty specific clue. With Zegler’s post coming out, I think we could be looking at an official announcement soon.

The story follows a young Coriolanus Snow during the early years of the Hunger Games (specifically Year 10). Though he may have risen to become the overall ruler of Panem, Songbirds and Snakes will follow Snow as he is chosen as a mentor for the tribute for District 12—who we suspect will be played by Zegler.

Though Hunger Games may have lost some of its fire toward the end, I’m sure that a lot of fans would be open to exploring more of the world on the big screen. The way franchises go, we could expect some kind of expansion of the story for the film, but I would be fine with a one-off return.

No official description has been released for the film, but we do have this synopsis from the book:

It is the morning of the reaping that will kick off the tenth annual Hunger Games. In the Capitol, eighteen-year-old Coriolanus Snow is preparing for his one shot at glory as a mentor in the Games. The once-mighty house of Snow has fallen on hard times, its fate hanging on the slender chance that Coriolanus will be able to outcharm, outwit, and outmaneuver his fellow students to mentor the winning tribute.

The odds are against him. He’s been given the humiliating assignment of mentoring the female tribute from District 12, the lowest of the low. Their fates are now completely intertwined — every choice Coriolanus makes could lead to favor or failure, triumph or ruin. Inside the arena, it will be a fight to the death. Outside the arena, Coriolanus starts to feel for his doomed tribute . . . and must weigh his need to follow the rules against his desire to survive no matter what it takes.

The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is set to release in theaters on Nov. 17.