The Hunger Games franchise made an honorable return late last year when The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes hit theaters and won back over audiences on the dystopian science fiction concept. Despite its success, there are no future plans for the world of Panem to return to the big screen for the moment, but recent comments from an OG Hunger Games star brings up a solid idea for how the series could continue.
Sam Claflin memorably portrayed Finnick Odair in 2013’s The Hunger Games sequel, Catching Fire. The character has long been a fan-favorite for those who follow both the books and movies, and in the spirit of this, the actor recently shared his thoughts on returning to the franchise for his own prequel at some point. In Claflin’s words:
I don’t know if there’s room for me to go back. I’m too old now. I’ve heard rumors that people are asking for a Finnick prequel, and all I’m gonna say is that I would be all in for Finnick’s dad.
While speaking to Variety at the Emmys this week, Claflin said he’s “100 percent” open to being part of The Hunger Games again, but he feels like at this point he might be “too old” to encompass Finnick Odair these days. He’s happy to take on another role in the franchise, but he thinks he may no longer be the right fit for the character. Finnick’s dad on the other hand – sign him up!
When Sam Claflin first starred in Catching Fire, the actor was in his late twenties playing a 24-year-old character. Nowadays, he’s 37 years old and the father to his two kids, who are aged around six and four. With that in mind, it’s kind of a stretch for Claflin to not only come back to the franchise, but do so as an even younger version of his character. That being said, the idea of having a Finnick movie is a great choice! This is a character with a rather rich backstory that would offer audiences a new perspective on Suzanne Collins’ dystopian world.
The main reason why there’s not another Hunger Games movie in the works because thus far they’ve all been based on novels by Suzanne Collins, and no others have been written, including one on Finnick Odair. That being said, there are definitely a lot of possibilities for more Hunger Games characters to get prequels if Collins and the filmmaking team at Lionsgate decided they wanted to pursue additional movies from the world.
Recently, Josh Hutcherson has also spoken about his thoughts about getting back to The Hunger Games as he recently went bleach blonde again for The Beekeeper. If you’ve yet to see the latest installment from the franchise, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is now available to rent and buy on digital.