With the release of the upcoming Hunger Games prequel, The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, one may ask themselves: What other characters can get spin-offs or prequels?

There are plenty, to be clear. Two possible candidates are Finnick (Sam Claflin) and Haymitch (Woody Harrelson). However, the team behind the films would only do so under one condition. They would want Suzanne Collins, author of the Hunger Games series, to lay the ground work.

Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, producer Nina Jacobson and Francis Lawrence (who has directed all but one film) addressed these spin-off ideas.

“I liked being part of the series originally because the stories are great,” Lawrence said. “But what was always gratifying was that they were always about something. Suzanne [Collins] always writes from a thematic foundation. The original ones were all about the consequences of war. [Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes is] about the state of nature. That's what makes them feel rich and not superficial, and I think it's why they've stood the test of time, honestly.”

“If Suzanne has another thematic idea that she feels fits into the world of Panem — whether that's with new people [or] familiar characters [like] Finnick, Haymitch, whoever — I'd be really interested in looking at it and being a part of it. But I don't have any pull of just going, ‘I would love to do Finnick's games.' He's a great character, but what's the thematic underpinnings that make it worth telling and relevant?” he continued.

Jacobson added, “If she has something to say, I want to hear it,” Jacobson says. “I'm fascinated by her perspective. I will always want to follow her lead.”

Turns out, ideas for a Hunger Games prequel have been kicked around for a while. But Suzanne Collins writing The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes gave Lawrence and Jacobson the chance to return.

In The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, Rachel Zegler and Tom Bylth star as Coryo Snow and Lucy Gray Baird. Peter Dinklage, Viola Davis, and Jason Schwartzman also star in the film.

The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes will be released on November 17.