Josh Andrés Rivera is joining Lionsgate’s The Hunger Games prequel, The Hunger Games: The Ballad Of Songbirds And Snakes. Rivera will star as Sejanus Plinth who mentors a tribute from District 2 and is a close friend of Coriolanus Snow (played by Tom Blyth). Here’s the full synopsis:

…years before he would become the tyrannical ‘President of Panem’, 18-year-old ‘Coriolanus Snow’ is the last hope for his fading lineage, a once-proud family that has fallen from grace in a post-war ‘Capitol’. With the 10th annual ‘Hunger Games’ fast approaching, the young Snow is alarmed when he is assigned to mentor ‘Lucy Gray Baird’, the girl tribute from impoverished ‘District 12’.

But, after Lucy Gray commands all of Panem’s attention by defiantly singing during the reaping ceremony, Snow thinks he might be able to turn the odds in their favor. Uniting their instincts for showmanship and newfound political savvy, Snow and Lucy’s race against time to survive will ultimately reveal who is a songbird, and who is a snake…

The West Side Story star will reunite with co-star Rachel Zegler who is in the role of Lucy Gray. Additionally Francis Lawrence, Nina Jacobson, and Brad Simpson are directors while The Hunger Games author Suzanne Collins, Jim Miller, and Tim Palen are executive producers. In the past Lawrence has directed three of the four movies from the Hunger Games franchise (namely Catching Fire, Mockingjay – Part One, and Mockingjay – Part Two).

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is scheduled to hit theaters on November 17, 2023: around eight years since the release of Mockingjay – Part 2.