In this week’s episode of “Screen Talk,” Ryan and Anne catch up on “The Marvels,” the latest disastrous MCU entry from Disney out in theaters everywhere now, and discuss why “Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” is one of the best entries in the franchise. We also celebrate the end of the SAG-AFTRA strike and dig into how it will shape the awards season ahead as a bottleneck of contenders whose bags have been packed for months ready to make the rounds in press and at Q&As to get voters’ eyes.
Joining “Screen Talk” this week is Color Force founder Nina Jacobson, who started out her career as a studio executive at Universal and Disney and then went indie. Early on, novelist Suzanne Collins entrusted her with the “Hunger Games” franchise and together they made blockbuster history. Jacobson waited for Collins to deliver the latest book, “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes,” which is now a two-and-a-half-hour movie starring “West Side Story” breakout Rachel Zegler and TV’s “Billy the Kid” star Tom Blyth.
Zegler initially turned down the singing role because she was shooting “Snow White” but became interested in the movie again after her boyfriend, Josh Rivera, joined the cast. Jacobson explains just how much thought went into making this iteration of the “Hunger Games” franchise so good.
Watch the full episode above or listen to it below.
Screen Talk is produced by Azwan Badruzaman and available on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, and Spotify, and hosted by Megaphone. Browse previous episodes here, subscribe here, and be sure to let us know if you’d like to hear the hosts address specific issues in upcoming editions of Screen Talk.
