The 10 most awaited Movie 2023

Posted on by VA Trainee

After a spectacular 2022 for movies, this year seems intent on increasing the pace of quality. We’ve got a juicy list of the most awaited releases for 2023.

One Piece Sets Sail in New Trailer

By Charu Sinha, a Vulture blogger w

GUM GUM TIME UPDATED JULY 24, 2023

One Piece’s Straw Hats are finally leaving port. Netflix revealed the release date for the highly anticipated live-action adaptation of One Piece last month, and now they’re dropping a new trailer for the series. One Piece, based on the widely beloved manga of the same name, follows aspiring pirate king Monkey D. Luffy (Iñaki Godoy) as he pursues the mythical treasure called One Piece along with his crew, including Nami (Emily Rudd), Roronoa Zoro (Mackenyu), Sanji (Taz Skyler), and Usopp (Jacob Gibson). The trailer features our first looks at Luffy’s stretchy superpowers, as well as a couple of impressive sea monsters. “This crew, our crew, can handle anything,” Cap’n Luffy says, only coming off as a little delusional. Creator of the original One Piece manga Eiichiro Oda is an executive producer on the series with Steven Maeda (Lost) and Matt Owens (Luke Cage) serving as showrunners. One Piece drops anchor on Netflix on August 31.

RELATED

Netflix Gave Us More Than One Piece of Info About One Piece

Barbie (film)               

Barbie is an upcoming American romantic comedy film based on the eponymous toy line by Mattel. The film is directed by Greta Gerwig from a screenplay co-written with Noah Baumbach. Wikipedia

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania

Marvel has seen a slower pace and a decrease in popularity since Endgame released. Like a success hangover that just won’t go away. Ant-Man and the Wasp’s new movie should help clear out the fog about what’s next for the House of Ideas. They’re not exactly first class characters, but they’re loved by everybody. We’ll see if they’re able to fix some things.

Ant-Man and the Wasp embark on a mind-bending adventure in the Quantum Realm. Wikipedia

John Wick 4  

John Wick: Chapter 4 is a 2023 American neo-noir action thriller film directed and co-produced by Chad Stahelski and written by Shay Hatten and Michael Finch. The sequel to John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum (2019) and the fourth installment in the John Wick franchise, the film stars Keanu Reeves as the title character, alongside Donnie Yen, Bill Skarsgård, Laurence Fishburne, Hiroyuki Sanada, Shamier Anderson, Lance Reddick, Rina Sawayama, Scott Adkins, Clancy Brown, and Ian McShane. In the film, John Wick sets out to get revenge on the High Table and those who left him for dead.

Development of the fourth John Wick film, formally announced by Lionsgate in May 2019, was confirmed prior to the release of its predecessor. It is the first film in the franchise that was not written by franchise creator Derek Kolstad, with Hatten hired in May 2020, followed by Finch in March 2021. Principal photography took place from June to October 2021, and filming locations included France, Germany, New York City, and Japan.

The original release date of May 21, 2021, was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[5] John Wick: Chapter 4 premiered at the Odeon Luxe Leicester Square in London on March 6, 2023, and was released in the United States on March 24. The film received widespread acclaim from critics and has grossed over $432 million worldwide, becoming the highest-grossing film in the franchise. A spin-off, Ballerina, is set for release on June 7, 2024.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.3

It’d be quite ironic if Guardians 3 becomes Marvel’s biggest hit in 2023. We’re talking about James Gunn’s goodbye not only to the beloved franchise, but also to Marvel itself. Gunn has been appointed as the head of DC Studios, so now he’ll have to bear the responsibility of picking up the pieces of Marvel’s main competitor.

Peter Quill must rally his team to defend the universe and protect one of their own. Wikipedia

Fast X

Fast X (also known as Fast & Furious 10) is a 2023 American action film directed by Louis Leterrier from a screenplay written by Dan Mazeau and Justin Lin, both of whom also co-wrote the story with Zach Dean. It is the sequel to F9 (2021), the tenth main installment, and the eleventh installment overall in the Fast & Furious franchise. It stars Vin Diesel as Dominic Toretto alongside an ensemble cast including Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson, Chris “Ludacris” Bridges, John Cena, Nathalie Emmanuel, Jordana Brewster, Sung Kang, Scott Eastwood, Daniela Melchior, Alan Ritchson, Helen Mirren, Brie Larson, Rita Moreno, Jason Statham, Jason Momoa, and Charlize Theron. In the film, Toretto must protect his family from Dante Reyes (Momoa), who seeks revenge for his father’s death and the loss of his family’s fortune.

With a tenth film planned since 2014, and a two-part finale planned since October 2020, Lin was confirmed to return to direct with the main cast attached. The film’s official title was revealed when principal photography began in April 2022. Lin left as director later that month, citing creative differences, though he retained writing and producing credits. Leterrier was then hired as his replacement a week later and performed several uncredited rewrites to the screenplay. Longtime franchise composer Brian Tyler returned to score the film. With an estimated production budget of $340 million, it is the eighth-most expensive film ever made. Filming lasted until that August, taking place in London, Rome, Turin, other Italian cities, Lisbon, and Los Angeles.

Fast X premiered at The Space Cinema in Rome on May 12, 2023. It was first released in several countries across Europe and South America on May 17, and in the United States on May 19, by Universal Pictures. The film received mixed reviews from critics, with praise for its action sequences, emotional depth and Momoa’s performance, but criticized the writing, parts of the pacing and Statham’s limited screen time. Fast X has grossed over $719 million worldwide, becoming the fourth-highest-grossing film of 2023. A sequel is in development and scheduled to be released in 2025.

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One is a 2023 American spy action film directed by Christopher McQuarrie from a screenplay he co-wrote with Erik Jendresen.[5] It is the sequel to Mission: Impossible – Fallout (2018) and the seventh installment in the Mission: Impossible film series. Dead Reckoning Part One sees Tom Cruise return as Ethan Hunt, whose IMF team matches wits with a powerful rogue AI known as “the Entity”. The ensemble cast also features Hayley Atwell, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson, Vanessa Kirby, Esai Morales, Pom Klementieff, Mariela Garriga, and Henry Czerny.

In January 2019, Cruise announced that the seventh and eighth Mission: Impossible films would be shot back-to-back with McQuarrie writing and directing both films. Returning and new cast members were announced soon after, and Lorne Balfe, who composed the score for Fallout, returned to score the film. Filming began in Italy in February 2020 but was halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It resumed later that year and wrapped in September 2021 with other filming locations, including Norway, the United Kingdom, Italy, and the United Arab Emirates. It is the first film in the series since Mission: Impossible 2 (2000) not to involve J. J. Abrams in any capacity and is also the first film in the series to not be produced by Bad Robot Productions since Mission: Impossible III (2006). With an estimated budget of $291 million, it is one of the most expensive films ever made, and the most expensive in the franchise.

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One premiered on the Spanish Steps in Rome on June 19, 2023, and was theatrically released in the United States on July 12, 2023, by Paramount Pictures. It has received widespread acclaim from audiences and critics alike[6][7][8][9] and has grossed $451 million worldwide. A direct sequel, Dead Reckoning Part Two, is set to be released on June 28, 2024.

Oppenheimer (film)

Julius Robert Oppenheimer April 22, 1904 – February 18, 1967) was an American theoretical physicist and director of the Manhattan Project‘s Los Alamos Laboratory during World War II. He is often called the “father of the atomic bomb“.

Born in New York City to Jewish immigrants from Germany, Oppenheimer earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Harvard University in 1925 and a doctorate in physics from the University of Göttingen in Germany in 1927. After research at other institutions, he joined the physics department at the University of California, Berkeley, where he became a full professor in 1936. He made significant contributions to theoretical physics, including achievements in quantum mechanics and nuclear physics such as the Born–Oppenheimer approximation for molecular wave functions, work on the theory of electrons and positrons, the Oppenheimer–Phillips process in nuclear fusion, and the first prediction of quantum tunneling. With his students, he also made contributions to the theory of neutron stars and black holes, quantum field theory, and the interactions of cosmic rays.

In 1942, Oppenheimer was recruited to work on the Manhattan Project, and in 1943 he was appointed director of the project’s Los Alamos Laboratory in New Mexico, tasked with developing the first nuclear weapons. His leadership and scientific expertise were instrumental in the project’s success. On July 16, 1945, he was present at the first test of the atomic bomb, Trinity. In August 1945, the weapons were used against Japan in the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the only use to date of nuclear weapons in an armed conflict.

In 1947, Oppenheimer became the director of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey, and chaired the influential General Advisory Committee of the newly created U.S. Atomic Energy Commission. He lobbied for international control of nuclear power to avert nuclear proliferation and a nuclear arms race with the Soviet Union. He opposed the development of the hydrogen bomb during a 1949–1950 governmental debate on the question and subsequently took positions on defense-related issues that provoked the ire of some U.S. government and military factions. During the Second Red Scare, Oppenheimer’s stances, together with his past associations with the Communist Party USA, led to the revocation of his security clearance following a 1954 security hearing. This effectively ended his access to the government’s atomic secrets and thus his career as a nuclear physicist. Stripped also of his direct political influence, Oppenheimer continued to lecture, write, and work in physics. In 1963, he was awarded the Enrico Fermi Award as a gesture of political rehabilitation. He died four years later from throat cancer. In December 2022, U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm ordered that the 1954 decision to revoke Oppenheimer’s security clearance be vacated.

The Little Mermaid (2023 film)

The Little Mermaid is a 2023 American musical romantic fantasy film directed by Rob Marshall from a screenplay written by David Magee. Co-produced by Walt Disney Pictures, Lucamar Productions, and Marc Platt Productions, it is a live-action adaptation of Disney’s 1989 animated film of the same name, itself loosely based on the 1837 fairy tale of the same title by Hans Christian Andersen. The film stars Halle Bailey in the titular role, alongside Jonah Hauer-King, Daveed Diggs, Awkwafina, Jacob Tremblay, Noma Dumezweni, Art Malik, Javier Bardem and Melissa McCarthy. The Little Mermaid follows a mermaid princess Ariel who is fascinated with the human world and makes a deal with a treacherous sea witch Ursula to trade her voice for human legs to impress Prince Eric, who she saved from a shipwreck before time runs out.

Plans for a remake of 1989’s The Little Mermaid were confirmed in May 2016. In December 2017, Disney announced Marshall was being courted to direct the film. Bailey, Hauer-King, McCarthy, Bardem, Diggs, Tremblay, Awkwafina, and the rest of the cast signed on between July to November 2019. Production was expected to begin in London between late March and early April 2020 but was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Filming ultimately took place primarily at Pinewood Studios in England and on the island of Sardinia, Italy, from January to July 2021. Composer Alan Menken, who worked on the original film’s soundtrack, returned to compose the score and write new songs alongside Lin-Manuel Miranda, who serves as a producer with Platt, John DeLuca and Marshall. The film is dedicated to the late Howard Ashman, who co-produced and co-wrote the songs from the original film.

The Little Mermaid premiered at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on May 8, 2023,[6] and was released in the United States on May 26. It received mixed reviews from critics, who praised the performances of the cast and the musical sequences but criticized the visual effects and character designs. The film has grossed over $564 million worldwide against a total production budget of $250 million, becoming the eighth-highest-grossing film of 2023. Amongst Disney’s live-action remakes, the film is the second-most-expensive and seventh-highest-grossing readaptation to date.

Plot

Ariel is a mermaid princess and the youngest daughter of King Triton, ruler of the merpeople of Atlantica. She is fascinated with the human world despite never having seen it, as Triton forbid all merfolk from going to the surface after Ariel’s mother was killed by a human. Ariel collects human objects with the support of her best friend, Flounder, a sergeant major, and Scuttle, a Northern gannet.

Ariel misses the Coral Moon meeting that she was supposed to attend with her sisters, and is scolded by Triton. Afterward, she sees fireworks above the ocean and surfaces to see it up close. The fireworks come from the ship of Prince Eric, a prince of a nearby island kingdom. Ariel overhears Eric telling the kingdom’s Prime Minister, Grimsby, about his wish to explore the unknown and help the people of his kingdom. A storm arrives and the ship crashes against the rocks, forcing all to go for the lifeboats. Ariel rescues Eric and brings him to shore, where she sings with her siren voice to help save his life. She flees before he can regain full consciousness. After Eric recovers, his adoptive mother Queen Selina forbids him from sailing again.

Ariel’s absent-minded behavior is commented on by her sisters. Overhearing this, Triton questions his advisor Sebastian the crab, who tells him that she saved a human’s life. Outraged, Triton travels to Ariel’s grotto to confront her; when she refuses to swear to never go to the surface again, Triton destroys her collection of human objects. After Triton leaves, Ariel is approached by a pair of moray eels who show her an image of the sea witch Ursula, Triton’s estranged younger sister and Ariel’s aunt who was banished from Atlantica 15 years prior and she offers to help Ariel.

Ariel follows the eels to Ursula’s lair, where the sea witch presents a deal: she will transform Ariel into a human for three days, during which Ariel must receive a “true love’s kiss” from Eric to remain human permanently. If she fails, she will transform back into a mermaid and Ursula will claim her. To become human, Ariel must give up her tail, the ability to breathe underwater, and her siren voice, the last of which Ursula will keep in a nautilus shell. Ariel accepts the deal and is given human legs. She is taken to the surface by Flounder and Sebastian, and is rescued by a fisherman, who takes her to the island kingdom and to Eric’s castle. Eric, who has been frantically searching for the woman who saved his life, rushes to meet Ariel when he hears of her arrival. Ariel is excited, but her lack of voice has Eric immediately turning away. Later that evening, Ariel explores the castle and finds Eric’s collection of items he’d accumulated over his travels. Eric and Ariel spend time together poring over his collection.

The next day, Eric takes Ariel sightseeing around the kingdom. Sebastian, who has followed Ariel on land, realizes that Ursula has put a cheat in the spell that’s causing Ariel to forget that she needs to kiss Eric. Along with Scuttle and Flounder, Sebastian takes it upon himself to get the pair to kiss. They are almost successful, but are thwarted by Ursula’s eels. Ursula is enraged by the close call, and transforms herself into the guise of a beautiful young woman named Vanessa, and uses Ariel’s siren voice to hypnotize Eric. Back at Atlantica, Triton had the kingdom search for Ariel. Once he ordered his remaining daughters to continue the search, he began to regret his actions towards Ariel and for not listening to her.

The next morning, Ariel and her friends discover that Eric will be announcing his engagement to Vanessa later that day. Scuttle discovers Vanessa’s true identity and informs Ariel, who rushes to the engagement party and confronts Ursula to break the nautilus shell around her neck. Ariel’s voice is restored to her and the enchantment on Eric is broken. But before they can kiss, the sun sets and Ariel transforms back into a mermaid. Ursula reverts to her original form before grabbing Ariel and diving back into the ocean.

Ursula is confronted by Triton, who orders her to let Ariel go. However, Ursula reveals that the deal that she made with Ariel is unbreakable. Triton trades himself for Ariel and is turned to dust by Ursula’s eels, much to Ariel’s horror. Ursula claims Triton’s trident, but before she can kill Ariel, Eric arrives and distracts her; in the melee, Ursula accidentally kills her eels. Enraged, Ursula uses the trident to grow to a monstrous size and summons a storm to threaten Ariel and Eric. As Eric distracts Ursula, Ariel pulls herself onto a surfaced ship and turns the helm at the right moment to impale Ursula with its splintered bowsprit. Once Ursula is killed, Triton comes back to life; he and Ariel recognize the other’s sacrifice for them. Eric manages to return home, where Selina acknowledges that Eric and Ariel’s love was real.

Triton eventually accepts that although Ariel has returned home as he wanted, she is unhappy without Eric. On Sebastian’s advice, Triton transforms Ariel into a human permanently, and she reunites with Eric. The pair decide to travel together, with the blessing of both their parents and the support of people from both their worlds.

Cast

Selina, while Daveed Diggs, Jacob Tremblay, and Awkwafina voice Sebastian, Flounder and Scuttle

  • Halle Bailey as Ariel, a curious, adventurous, and headstrong mermaid princess and King Triton’s youngest daughter who is fascinated with the human world. Bailey was announced to have been cast on July 3, 2019.[7] In the early stages of the film’s development, Lindsay Lohan expressed interest in playing the role.[8] Zendaya was reported to have been offered the part in August 2018,[9] but she herself eventually stated that this was “just a rumor”.[10] Bailey was the first to audition for the role[11] after Rob Marshall saw her perform Donny Hathaway‘s 1972 single “Where Is the Love” at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards.[12] According to Marshall, hundreds of other girls also tried out for the part,[13] but she “set the bar so high that nobody surpassed it.”[14]
  • Jonah Hauer-King as Eric, an adventurer and free-spirited human prince whom Ariel falls in love with after saving him from drowning. Hauer-King was announced to have been cast on November 12, 2019.[15] Hundreds of candidates auditioned for the role,[16] including actors Asher Angel,[17] Gavin Leatherwood,[18] Christian Navarro,[19] Jack Whitehall,[20] and Cameron Cuffe, with the latter, along with Hauer-King, doing a screen test alongside Bailey.[21] Harry Styles was in early negotiations to play the part,[22] but ultimately turned it down[23] in favor of doing a concert tour.[24] Marshall later elaborated that Styles also refused because he wanted to do darker, non-musical roles.[16] Hauer-King described his character as “restless and inquisitive about where he is in the world, like Ariel… He’s quite isolated and sensitive.”[25]
  • Melissa McCarthy as Ursula, a treacherous and conniving sea witch and King Triton’s estranged sister, with whom Ariel makes a deal to become a human, which is secretly part of Ursula’s plan to conquer Atlantica. McCarthy was announced to have been cast on June 28, 2019.[26] She described her character as “so funny. There’s wit, there’s manipulation. She’s a great broad and at the same time, I have to think about what armor does she put in? And I don’t think her mental health is great.”[27]Lizzo also auditioned for the role.[28]
    • Jessica Alexander as Vanessa, Ursula’s human alter ego, which she uses to sabotage her deal with Ariel. Alexander was announced to have been cast on March 1, 2021.[29] She described her character as “a seductress, a temptress, the definition of a femme fatale and a sexy female villain.”[30] Kacey Musgraves was also considered for the role.[31]
  • Javier Bardem as King Triton, Ariel’s strict and overprotective father and the ruler of Atlantica who is prejudiced against humans due to the death of his wife at the hands of one of them. Bardem was announced to have been cast on July 17, 2019.[32] He described his character as “a little bit less grumpy than the original because we were intending to bring more conflict to his behavior, like his fear and insecurity as a father. Being scared of letting his last daughter leave home ends up translating into being angry or too controlling.”[33]
  • Noma Dumezweni as Queen Selina, Eric’s adoptive mother and the ruler of a Caribbean island kingdom. She is a new character for the film.[16] Dumezweni was announced to have been cast on January 5, 2021.[34] She described her character as a “loving queen and a mother queen and a parent and a land lover learning about herself through letting go of her children.”[35]
  • Art Malik as Sir Grimsby, the prime minister of Selina’s kingdom and Eric’s loyal confidant who acts as a father figure to him.[36]
  • Daveed Diggs as Sebastian, a loyal crab and King Triton’s majordomo who watches over Ariel. Diggs was announced to have been cast on October 8, 2019.[37][38]
  • Jacob Tremblay as Flounder, an anxious yet noble sergeant major who is Ariel’s best friend. Tremblay was announced to have been cast on July 1, 2019.[39]
  • Awkwafina as Scuttle, a dimwitted northern gannet and a friend of Ariel’s to whom she provides inaccurate descriptions of any human/surface world object Ariel finds. The character is portrayed as a female diving bird instead of a male seagull as in the original to feature the character in underwater scenes. Awkwafina was announced to have been cast on July 1, 2019.[40]

Additionally, Martina Laird appears as Lashana, one of the maids in Eric’s castle, who is based on Carlotta from the animated film; Emily Coates appears as Rosa, a young girl who works as a maid in Eric’s castle; Christopher Fairbank and John Dagleish appear as Hawkins and Mulligan, two of Eric’s shipmates; Jude Akuwudike appears as Joshua, a fisherman who discovers Ariel in her human form; and Russell Balogh and Adrian Christopher appear as two of King Triton’s guards.[41] Also appearing as the daughters of Triton and Ariel’s sisters (renamed for the film) are Lorena Andrea as Perla, Simone Ashley as Indira, Karolina Conchet as Mala, Sienna King as Tamika, Kajsa Mohammar as Karina, and Nathalie Sorrell as Caspia.[42][43][44] Eric’s Old English Sheepdog, Max, is portrayed by dogs Gary and Edna, with the latter being uncredited.[45]

Flotsam and Jetsam, Ursula’s green moray eel minions appear. Jodi Benson, the original voice of Ariel in the animated film, cameos as a market vendor who hands Ariel a fork during her tour of the kingdom.[46][47][48]

The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is a dystopian action-adventure novel by American author Suzanne Collins. It is a spin-off and a prequel to The Hunger Games trilogy. It was released on May 19, 2020, by Scholastic. An audiobook of the novel read by American actor Santino Fontana was released simultaneously with the printed edition.[1] The book received a virtual launch due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[2] A film adaptation from Lionsgate is set to be released on November 17, 2023.

Plot

Set in the universe of The Hunger Games, 64 years before the first installment, the book follows young Coriolanus Snow, who is far from the cold, calculating dictator seen during the events of the original trilogy.

Following a long and costly war with the Districts, in which the Capitol was under direct siege for several months, the Capitol remains heavily damaged and is only beginning to recover. The once-wealthy and powerful Snow family, whose patriarch, General Crassus Snow, led the Capitol’s forces as a key strategist and war hero until he was killed in action, has fallen on hard times. While determined to keep up appearances, 18-year-old Coriolanus Snow, his cousin Tigris Snow and their grandmother (nicknamed “Grandma’am”) are running out of options and resources. Though faced with the imminent loss of both their grand apartment and the family’s great social prestige, Coriolanus remains determined to restore his family to prosperity, taking pride and assurance in the family saying, “Snow Lands On Top.”

Based on his academic excellence at the Academy, the Capitol’s most prestigious high school, Coriolanus is chosen to mentor a tribute in the upcoming tenth Hunger Games. He is assigned the District 12 female tribute, Lucy Gray Baird, member of a traveling musician group known as the Covey, who were forced into staying in District 12 after the war began. Lucy Gray sparks the Capitol’s attention after slipping a hidden snake into the clothing of the mayor’s cruel daughter Mayfair, who had arranged for her to be reaped over jealousy about a boy named Billy Taupe, as well as singing during the reaping. Coriolanus is determined to make a good impression, since his success in the games will most likely guarantee he will win the monetary prize he needs in order to attend University.

Coriolanus decides to meet Lucy Gray at the train station where the tributes are set to arrive, but accidentally ends up with them in their transport vehicle. Some of the tributes consider killing him, but are dissuaded by Lucy Gray when she warns them that their families would likely be punished. The transport vehicle drops the stunned Coriolanus and the tributes inside a cage in the Capitol Zoo. He and Lucy Gray seize the opportunity to put on a show and begin earning the sympathy of the Capitol’s citizens.

Coriolanus starts sneaking Lucy Gray food from the Academy, as the Capitol is not feeding the tributes. The other mentors follow suit, including Sejanus Plinth, the only child of Strabo Plinth, whose ingenuity constructing a munitions empire brought him considerable wealth and political favor, allowing him to buy the Plinth family’s way into the Capitol from District 2 after the war. Sejanus gets nowhere trying to use food to build a rapport with his tribute, Marcus, a former classmate of his from District 2. Another mentor, Arachne Crane, mocks and taunts her tribute, leading to her being attacked and killed when she gets too close to the cage bars. Clemensia, Coriolanus’s classmate, is distraught by the murder, leaving him to complete an essay on ways to increase viewership for the games – which they were supposed to do together – by himself. He presents the essay to the Head Gamemaker, Dr. Volumnia Gaul, proposing a betting scheme and sponsorship of the tributes to engage the people of the Capitol in the outcome of the Games. Dr. Gaul drops the essay into a tank of genetically modified snakes. Coriolanus is forced to retrieve a few pages of the essay from the enclosure but is ignored by the snakes. However, they attack Clemensia when she reaches in, proving that Coriolanus was the sole author of the project since the snakes did not recognize her scent in the paper. Clemensia is severely envenomated and hospitalized, though Gaul brushes this off, only concerned with learning what she had wanted to.

During a tour of the arena – implied to be a former football stadium – undetected bombs explode and kill several tributes and mentors. Lucy Gray considers escaping in the chaos, but decides to help an injured Snow, saving his life. Despite the bad publicity this generates, the Games begin, with many tributes quickly dying from starvation, disease, or injuries, including Sejanus’ tribute, Marcus, who tried to escape when the bombs went off and was punished by being chained in the arena and left to be killed by the tributes. Meanwhile, Dr. Gaul enacts Coriolanus’s proposals for the Games. Sejanus, resentful of both the Capitol and the Games, enters the Arena at night intending to die as a martyr; Dr. Gaul orders Coriolanus to extract him. He convinces Sejanus to leave, explaining that his suicide would not be seen by anyone due to the footage being altered and that he could make more of a change if he decided to live. As they leave, they are attacked by a group of tributes who had noticed them. In the ensuing chase, Coriolanus is forced to bludgeon one of the tributes to death in self-defense, marking his first ever killing of another human.

While in Dr. Gaul’s lab, Coriolanus notices a tank of the same genetically modified snakes he and Clemensia encountered being transported. Deducing that they are going to be dropped in the arena, he drops a handkerchief with Lucy Gray’s scent inside the tank to accustom the snakes to her. As Coriolanus predicted, the genetically modified snakes are dropped into the arena. They attack several tributes except Lucy Gray, surrounding and climbing inside her dress, but not biting. After several days, Lucy Gray wins the Games thanks to the snakes and a compact full of rat poison Coriolanus had given her earlier that belonged to his late mother. At a celebration party at the Academy, Coriolanus is smugly confronted by the academic dean, Highbottom, with evidence implicating him in cheating in the Games and stealing food from the Academy. Threatened with being publicly disgraced unless he agrees to enlist, Coriolanus reluctantly joins the Peacekeepers and is sent to the garrison in District 12.

Coriolanus reunites with Lucy Gray in District 12, and develops romantic feelings for her. Sejanus, who was forced into the Peacekeepers due to trouble of his own, has grown further opposed to the Capitol’s authoritarianism and soon plans to help a group of District 12 residents escape to a place north of the district, rumored to be beyond the Capitol’s control. Coriolanus surreptitiously sends word to Dr. Gaul in the Capitol using a jabberjay that recorded the evidence. Lucy Gray’s former lover Billy Taupe and Mayfair overhear a conversation between Sejanus and a rebel named Spruce, and are subsequently shot dead by Spruce and Coriolanus (who stumbled upon the meeting with Lucy Gray) to prevent them from blowing their cover. A few days later, Spruce is found severely injured and eventually dies, while Sejanus is arrested by the Peacekeepers and hanged for treason, leaving Lucy Gray and Coriolanus as the only remaining witnesses of the murders. Lucy Gray tells Coriolanus that she is going to escape to the North and he decides to leave with her, despite being offered a spot in officer training school in District 2 because he fears being found out for Billy and Mayfair’s murders.

On their way to the North, Coriolanus accidentally finds the hidden guns used to shoot Billy Taupe and Mayfair. Coriolanus realizes that with the evidence in hand, he could bury what had happened and make a new life for himself. Worried that Lucy Gray had discerned that he was responsible for Sejanus’s death, he goes after her with a rifle. He is bitten by a snake and, after expending his ammunition and hyperventilating due to the bite, is unable to tell whether he killed her, or she managed to get away. After dumping the incriminating weapons into a lake, Coriolanus returns to District 12 and is sent back to the Capitol, where Dr. Gaul explains that she had arranged for him to be sent to District 12 so he could obtain more experience and ultimately come to terms with her view of human nature as inherently violent, and the need for an authoritarian government to keep this nature in check. Coriolanus is given a spot at the University under her tutelage. He is effectively adopted by Sejanus’s parents as their heir, with neither knowing the central role Coriolanus played in their son’s death.

Coriolanus pays a visit to Dean Highbottom at the Academy, where he learns that, while Highbottom did indeed co-author the original proposal for the Hunger Games, he never intended for them to become a reality. While he and Crassus Snow were classmates and friends at the University, they got drunk one night and Highbottom told Crassus of his idea for the Games, but as a simple, theoretical experiment. Seeking to gain favor, Crassus took the idea and submitted it to Dr. Gaul, who made the Games a reality soon after. Highbottom never forgave Crassus for this and adds that he sees much of Crassus’ deceitful, manipulative nature in his son. Thoroughly tired of Highbottom’s obstructive actions and antagonism towards him, Coriolanus slips rat poison into Highbottom’s drug stash, marking the first of the trademark killings that would fuel his rise to power. In the meantime, Coriolanus implements many of his ideas into future Hunger Games as a Gamemaker. Having either died or successfully escaped the country of Panem, Lucy Gray is never seen or heard from again.

Characters

  • Coriolanus Snow – He is the main character of the novel. His family has faced financial difficulties following the war, and he now makes great efforts to maintain his social status. His mother died during childbirth and his father died during the war, leaving him under the care of his grandmother. He is cunning and strategic, taking whatever actions are necessary to improve his situation. Coriolanus becomes infatuated with Lucy Gray once he becomes her mentor. Coriolanus eventually decides he prefers power and status over love. He begins working as a Gamemaker and works his way up, eventually becoming president of Panem.
  • Lucy Gray Baird – The female tribute from District 12 for the tenth Hunger Games. Lucy Gray is a member of the Covey, a travelling musician group forced to settle in District 12. She wears a beautiful rainbow dress to her reaping and draws the Capitol’s attention with her charm, talent and by slipping a snake down the District 12 mayor’s daughter’s dress. She is smart and calculating, and eventually develops a romantic connection with Snow. Her fate at the end of the book is unknown.
  • Tigris Snow – Coriolanus’ older cousin. She is the breadwinner of the family, leaving school and working for a fashion designer in order to support herself and her family. It is also implied she is forced to sell her body in order to keep food on the table. It is unclear what the cause of death of her parents was. She is gentle and kind towards her cousin, sacrificing a lot for his well being. It is unclear how her relationship with Coriolanus developed from what it is now to the state it is in at the end of the original trilogy, in which she smiles upon learning Katniss’ intention of killing him.
  • Sejanus Plinth – Coriolanus’s classmate and fellow mentor in the Games. Originally from District 2, Sejanus now lives in the Capitol because of his father’s connections and business during the war. He is rebellious and idealistic, and strongly opposes the Capitol’s treatment of the Districts and the existence of the Games. Sejanus ends up a Peacekeeper alongside Coriolanus and considers him one of his closest friends.
  • Dr. Volumnia Gaul – Head Gamemaker and the person responsible for the implementation of the Hunger Games. She has a twisted view of human nature and believes in an authoritarian government and the need for punishment and control over the Districts. She is indirectly responsible for Snow’s descent into deceit and authority. Hated by many people of all districts.
  • Casca Highbottom – Dean of the Academy. He is credited as the intellectual author of the Games and holds great disdain towards Coriolanus and the whole Snow family. He is addicted to morphling, a drug similar to morphine.
  • Grandma’am – Coriolanus’ and Tigris’ grandmother. She is the mother of Coriolanus’ father, Crassus. Her grandson gave her the nickname “Grandma’am” since he believed she deserved something that sounded imperial. During the war, she took care of her grandchildren, and ensured their survival; though currently her age seems to be catching up to her.
  • Mayfair Lipp – She is the daughter of District 12’s mayor. Jealous of Lucy Gray and her relationship with Billy Taupe, she arranges for Lucy to be reaped.
  • Billy Taupe – Lucy Gray’s ex-boyfriend and Mayfair’s current boyfriend.
  • Strabo Plinth – Sejanus’ father. He is the head of a munitions empire in District 2 that sided with the Capitol during the war, thus allowing him to buy his family’s way into a new life in the Capitol. At the end of the novel, he sponsors and names Coriolanus’ his heir.
  • Crassus Snow – Coriolanus’ father. He died during the war, leaving Coriolanus’ orphaned.

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