The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes Digital Release Date Confirmed

Estimated reading time: 2 minutes

The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes arrives on digital storefronts on December 19, giving people the chance to return to Panem from the comfort of their sofas.

Just over a month after The Hunger Games prequel opened in theaters, Lionsgate has announced that the film will be released on Premium Video on Demand (PVOD) in the U.S. on December 19. It will cost $24.99 to buy or $19.99 to rent (48-hour period) from participating digital platforms such as Prime Video and Apple TV.

Based on the Suzanne Collins best-selling novel, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes appears first on The Hunger Games movie timeline as it takes place 64 years before the adventures of Katniss Everdeen, following a young Coriolanus Snow (Tom Blyth) and Lucy Gray Baird (Rachel Zegler) during the 10th Hunger Games.

The star-studded cast also includes Peter Dinklage as Dean Casca Highbottom, Hunter Schafer as Tigris Snow, Josh Andrés Rivera as Sejanus Plinth, Jason Schwartzman as Lucky Flickerman, and Viola Davis as Volumnia Gaul, usually known as Dr. Gaul, the Head Gamemaker and overseer of the 10th annual Hunger Games.

The new prequel is the longest individual installment in the film series, coming in at 2 hours and 38 minutes. However, director Francis Lawrence told IGN that he would never have considered splitting it into two parts because he feels it’s “more fulfilling” to get the story in one sitting rather than telling it across multiple chapters.

The movie has made just over $300 million globally at the box office while receiving a mixed reception from critics. IGN’s review of The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes awarded the film 7/10, noting that it “rushes through a rich story that needs more time for its characters’ conflicts and manipulations to feel earned.”

Adele Ankers-Range is a freelance entertainment writer for IGN. You can follow her on X @AdeleAnkers.