This week, Lionsgate confirmed the exciting news that the movie for the Hunger Games prequel is officially in the works.
The film studio confirmed it was making Suzanne Collins's upcoming novel, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, set years before the multi-million pound franchise-spurring books.
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Director Francis Lawrence, the man behind all Catching Fire and Mockingjay is already on board for the film, as is Nina Jacobson, who has produced all the Hunger Games films, as well as screenwriter Michael Arndt.
"Suzanne's new book has been worth the wait," said Joe Drake, chairman of the Lionsgate Motion Picture Group.
"It offers everything fans could hope for and expect from The Hunger Games while also breaking new ground and introducing an entirely new canvas of characters."
Suzanne was equally as excited about her book - which is out on 19th May - being turned into a movie.
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She said: "From the beginning, they have treated the source material with great respect, honouring the thematic and narrative elements of the story, and assembling an incredible team both in front of and behind the camera.
While it's still early days, here's what we do know about upcoming The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes adaptation...
What is the The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes about?
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The new book, set 64 years before the original books, will take place in the 'dark days' 10 years after the Panem War.
Unlike in the previous books, which focussed on young Katniss Everdeen (played by Jennifer Lawrence), the prequel centres on a male protagonist, a young Coriolanus Snow.
Fans will remember an aged Coriolanus Snow, the now President Snow of Panem played by Donald Sutherland, as the brutal tyrant from Catching Fire.
However, the prequel will see a whole new Coriolanus, (beginning, at least) as a handsome and charming hero.
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It's difficult times for the Snow family, but when 18-year-old Coriolanus is chosen to be a mentor for the 10th Hunger Games, he starts to see his fortunes change.
That is, until he's assigned to mentor the female tribute from District 12, a young impoverished woman.
Suzanne has previously explained: "With this book, I wanted to explore the state of nature, who we are, and what we perceive is required for our survival, she said in a statement.
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"The reconstruction period 10 years after the war, commonly referred to as the Dark Days - as the country of Panem struggles back to its feet - provides fertile ground for characters to grapple with these questions and thereby define their views of humanity."
What do we know about the cast?
It's still early days, and Lionsgate haven't revealed anything about the cast yet.
However, going off the film studio's penchant for launching the careers of young actors, we doubt they'll be choosing an already established face.
Let's not forget The Hunger Games franchise catapulted a fairly unknown Jennifer Lawrence into international stardom, and made her the highest paid actress in the world in 2015.
We reckon Lionsgate won't be short of incredible talent queuing up for their chance to play Coriolanus.
Currently, we know little about the other characters in the book apart from what we've learnt from pre-released snippets ahead of its official release on May 19th.
We know the book features Dean Casca Highbottom, the man who created the Hunger Games, who is likely to have a role in the film. Who could play him, we wonder?
It's also fair to assume Coriolanus Snow's family members will play significant supporting roles, as well as the yet-unnamed impoverished District 12 girl.
What we do know is that the story is set way before Katniss and Peeta's time, so it's unlikely Jennifer Lawrence or Josh Hutcherson will be involved.
When is The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes out?
Again, info is scarce on a release date, but that's not stopping us having a guess.
If you look at the previous films - which were released in May 2012, November 2013, November 2014 and November 2015, respectively - then we have proof Lionsgate run on roughly a year production schedule.
Our science on this is definitely sketchy, and we may be overly optimistic about this, but could we guess at an April 2021 release?!
Obviously, coronavirus is likely to affect production a bit, too, so let's say late 2021 to be on the safe side.
It goes without saying this is nothing more than an educated guess, but a guess is all we have right now!
More info as it comes...
Featured Image Credit: LionsgateTopics: Film, TV Entertainment