Following on from a couple of recent decently sized teaser trailers, Lionsgate has unveiled a first real clip from its upcoming Hunger Games prequel movie The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.

The scene features Viola Davis (The Woman King, How to Get Away with Murder) as Dr. Volumnia Gail, Head Gamemaker of the 10th Annual Hunger Games, and Peter Dinklage (Game of Thrones, Cyrano) as Dean Casca Highbottom, one of the original creators of the Games.

In the scene below, a visibly gleeful Gail introduces Highbottom to a hushed assembly on the eve of the 10th annual Hunger Games. Although Gail seems to relish her role as Gamemaker, Dinklage’s Highbottom needs a stiff drink in order to get through proceedings — namely the glorification of pitting children in a fight to the death in an arena.

The film which hits theatres on Nov. 17, follows Coriolanus Snow (Tom Blyth, Billy the Kid, The Gilded Age), the villainous character made famous by Donald Sutherland in the first Hunger Games series, seen here as a younger man. When we first meet Coriolanus, we learn he is the last hope for his failing lineage, and that the once-proud Snow family that has fallen from grace in a post-war Capitol.

With his livelihood threatened, Snow is reluctantly assigned to mentor Lucy Gray Baird (Rachel Zegler, Snow White, West Side Story), a tribute from the impoverished District 12. But after Lucy Gray’s charm captivates the audience of Panem, Snow sees an opportunity to shift their fates.

With everything he has worked for hanging in the balance, young Coriolanus unites with Lucy to turn the odds in their favor. Battling his instincts for both good and evil, Snow sets out on a race against time to survive and reveal if he will ultimately become a songbird or a snake.

The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes also stars Hunter Schafer, Josh Andrés Rivera, and Jason Schwartzman.

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