Hunger Games: How to watch The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes — Is it streaming?

❘ Published: 2024-02-17T16:30:49

The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes Lucy Gray body

Lionsgate

The Hunger Games prequel, The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, became one of the biggest action movies of 2023 — but where can you watch it, and is it streaming?

As Effie Trinket would say: Welcome, welcome, to the 10th Annual Hunger Games. Or should we say, to the Hunger Games prequel movie, The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes.

The prequel follows this synopsis: “Years before he becomes the tyrannical president of Panem, 18-year-old Coriolanus Snow remains the last hope for his fading lineage. With the 10th annual Hunger Games fast approaching, the young Snow becomes alarmed when he’s assigned to mentor Lucy Gray Baird from District 12. Uniting their instincts for showmanship and political savvy, they race against time to ultimately reveal who’s a songbird and who’s a snake.”

The movie became a box office hit after premiering in theaters last year, but if you’re looking to watch it at home, here’s how.

Is The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes on streaming?

No, The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes isn’t currently available as part of a streaming subscription at the time of writing, but you can rent or buy it.

While the current Rotten Tomatoes critics score for Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes is 64%, there were rave reviews for the movie upon its release.

We ourselves gave the flick 4 stars, stating, “This is the Hunger Games as we have never seen them before, and The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes only enriches the world of Panem. It has its faults, but if you’re looking for a prequel that expands the world and its characters, this movie rings true.”

When and where will The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes be on streaming?

There is currently no confirmation if and when the Hunger Games prequel movie will be available on streaming. However, we can make theories.

Since all of the other Hunger Games movies are available to stream, we can expect the same for The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes. We can imagine that we’ll have the movie in our homes later this year.

As for where we will be able to stream the movie, according to Deadline, Lionsgate, the studio that produces the Hunger Games films, has struck a deal with the platforms Starz and Roku. This means that The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes will exclusively stream on the former platform, before jumping to the latter.

Coriolanus Snow and Lucy Gray in The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes behind bars under a blue sky

Afterwards, following the trajectory of the previous films, we could see the prequel movie appear on Netflix, Max, or Hulu at any point in the future.

How to watch The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes on digital platforms

The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes is currently available to rent or buy on Amazon Prime Video or Apple TV+.

You can rent the movie on Prime Video for $5.99, or buy it for $19.99. It’s also available over at Apple TV+ for the same price. So while it’s still not currently available for free as part of a subscription, you can still catch the prequel in the comfort of your own home.

Will there be physical Hunger Games prequel media?

Yes, a 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, and a Walmart exclusive Steelbook version of the Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes were released on February 13, 2024.

Said media features an 8-part documentary about the making of the film, among other media-specific features. You can also buy the Blu-ray, DVD, or 4K version on Amazon.

Check out our other Hunger Games coverage below: