28 Things They Changed in the New Hunger Games Film
The release of The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes has everyone back in their Hunger Games era.
Stans are out in full force praising all the brilliant nuance and subtext put to use in Francis Lawrence's latest addition to The Hunger Games universe, but did you know that quite a lot is missing?
While it's always going to be impossible to cram every thoughtful thing into a book-to-screen adaptation, it's fun to take a look at what was left out and give people who didn't read the book a taste of what they missed out on.
So here is everything that was missing or got changed in The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.
Young Coriolanus and Tigris
The opening of the film features Dexter Sol Ansell and Rosa Gotzler as a young Coriolanus and Tigris, which we don't see in the book. Chapter One has us dive right into Snow preparing himself for becoming a mentor, which leads us to our next change.
The mentors already knew
In the film, the mentors found out on the day of the reaping that they would be taking on this brand new role when, in the book, they were already aware of this. They even know which tribute from each district they're set to receive before the reaping, which sends Snow into a spiral about receiving the District 12 girl.
The Plinth Prize
This was another early change in the film. The initial prize money mentioned in the book comes from The Academy, which Coriolanus realises he is not likely to receive due to his ongoing conflict with Dean Highbottom. It is actually later on in the book that the Plinth prize is introduced as an additional option, spurring Coriolanus on.
The Peacekeepers and the van
Murray Close/Lionsgate
A small but easily forgotten detail is that the Peacekeepers allow Snow to get in the van with the tributes before they are dumped in the Capitol Zoo. In the film, we see Coriolanus sneak in.
Sejanus and his sandwiches
In the book, Snow arrives at the zoo with food for Lucy Gray and sees Sejanus is already there, trying to distribute sandwiches. In the film, Snow and Sejanus arrive together, and Sejanus only offers his sandwich to Marcus, who ignores him.
The rat poison
One thing very different in the film is that Snow gets the idea for the rat poison from the zoo. In the film, it is said that Jessup suffers a bat bite during his train journey to the Capitol, but he actually contracts rabies in the zoo. This leads the Capitol to leave rat poison around the monkey cage, inspiring Snow to steal some for Lucy Gray.
Pluribus Bell
A whole character was cut out. Pluribus Bell, a musician and resident of the Capitol, was responsible for giving Lucy Gray a guitar to sing with during her interview before the games. He was Coriolanus's neighbor and one of the few people aware of the Snow family's poverty.
Tigris restoring Lucy Gray's dress
Murray Close/Lionsgate
In the book, Snow cleaned Lucy Gray up before her on-screen interview. Tigris washed and restored Lucy Gray's dress so she would look clean-cut and appeal to the sponsors.
Lucy Gray and Snow's first kiss
Lucy Gray also kisses Snow before the games begin, leaving Snow to spend a lot of time fantastizing about kissing her again when she gets out of the arena.
The eviction notice
Tigris is seen in the film at one point with an eviction notice, but in the book, it is something Snow becomes aware of and is a huge driving force for him.
Marcus from District 2
A huge change was made to the start of the games, where Marcus was hung up but still alive. In the book, he is already dead and displayed as a haunting reminder to the tributes of the power the Capitol holds.
Snow catching Sejanus
Murray Close/Lionsgate
In the film, Snow is woken up in the studio by Gaul to discover that Sejanus has snuck in. This plot point is more complicated in the book as Snow returns home for the evening, where his Grandma'am and Tigris have the games on. Sejanus' ma is also at the house, looking for Sejanus. It is there that they see him in the arena on television. Gaul then calls Snow and says he must come with Sejanus's mother and retrieve him from the arena.
Sejanus's Mother
Sejanus's ma is a huge character in the book, whereas she only gets one appearance in the film. She is responsible for sending the boys treats when they are Peacekeepers in District 12, which they use as currency due to Peacekeepers' wages being delayed.
Snow's singing
We were also deprived of some Tom Blyth singing, as Coriolanus is required to sing the Panem anthem in the book.
The 10th Hunger Games
Courtesy of Lionsgate
The games were wildly different in the book. Relatively uneventful, there were no cameras in the hidden cracks of the arena, which meant we often didn't know where Lucy Gray was. It wasn't until the final few were left and the snakes were sent in that Lucy Gray made an appearance, which is where Snow learned his little stunt worked. Reaper also spent the whole of the games in the book stacking bodies, it wasn't something he did as a final act of rebellion like in the film. Reaper also contracted rabies from Jessup before the games. This detail being left out led to his death being very different on screen, because, in the book, he spent a lot of his time in the arena wearing the Capitol flag as a cape. Lucy Gray stole the cape from him and ran around until he was tired of chasing her and succumbed to the rabies.
District 4 and the drones
Another detail left out of the games is that tributes from District 4 found a way to hack the drone system the Capitol used and used them as weapons.
Comunicuffs
In the film, the mentors use screens to send gifts to their tributes. But in the book, they wore "comunicuffs", which meant it was on their wrists instead.
Clemensia Dovecote's story cut short
We were robbed of more Clemensia Dovecote because, in the book, she is a big part of Coriolanus's journey from good to bad. She goes missing after suffering the snake bite in the film, but during the book, she gets scales and comes back rather angry that Snow didn't visit her in the hospital. She has a narrative arc throughout the book, which is certainly missing from the film.
The essay
Dr Gaul tasks the mentors with writing an essay about the war, where Snow disappoints her by not delivering anything of substance.
Sejanus in District 12
When we get to part three, everything speeds up a bit. Despite being over 200 pages of the book, we rush through a lot, including the fact that Sejanus joins Snow after a short period as opposed to right away.
Lucy Gray's family
They also removed much of Lucy Gray's family/Covey. In the book, the Covey are a big part of the story, and Snow spends a lot of time judging the content of some of their songs, which Tom Blyth does a good job of exhibiting during some sections of the film.
Snow and Lucy Gray's first reunion
Murray Close/Lionsgate
Sejanus also takes Snow to the Seam for the first reunion of Lucy Gray and Snow. He stays behind at the house while Snow takes to the field to find Lucy Gray. When the two return, Billy Taupe and Sejanus get caught having drawn a map of the Peacekeepers' lodges in the mud, which is how Snow catches on to Sejanus, and the trust begins to waiver.
Snow and the Covey's songs
Snow also has some not-so-kind thoughts about the song Maude Ivory sings about Lucy Gray. In the film, Lucy Gray sings it herself. In the book, Maude Ivory performs it, and Snow spends the song trying to unpack the subtext. He can't wrap his head around it, and in the book, it's an interesting shift in his mindset.
Billy Taupe at the mayor's house
There's a scene in the book where Snow follows Billy Taupe back to the mayor's house and sees him with the mayor's daughter. This is where Snow starts to get paranoid about what's unfolding with the rebels.
Snow only gets a one day notice
Courtesy of Lionsgate
In the film, Snow receives 10 days notice about leaving for officer training, whereas, in the book, he is only given one. This is also something Lucy Gray becomes aware of in the film, but in the book, it is something Snow keeps hidden from her.
Sejanus hiding money
After Sejanus is executed, Snow finds that he has been hiding money, which Snow then steals.
Snow as the Plinth's adopted son
There's a brief mention of it in the film, but Snow becomes the adopted son of the Plinths due to being "such a good friend" to Sejanus. The Plinths fund his education, and he becomes wealthy by default.
The 10th Hunger Games gets erased
One thing that has been swirling on social media is the fact that there is no mention of Gaul erasing all footage of the games. This is a point that could've been slipped in at some point and would've clarified why Lucy Gray goes unmentioned in the Katniss era. Although the games were successful in increasing engagement and viewership, Gaul felt much of it embarrassed her and reflected a lack of order so no longer wanted them to be part of history.
If you didn't get a chance to read the book before seeing the film, now you have some insight into what went missing in the film.
Much of what got cut made sense for the sake of runtime, but it's always fun to look over what is missing and what changed in translation from page to screen.
