Lionsgate has found its new President Snow for the prequel The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping. Joining the film as the franchise’s main antagonist is Ralph Fiennes, fresh off his Oscar nomination for Conclave.
Fiennes takes over the role from the late Donald Sutherland, who played Snow in the original four films of The Hunger Games series, and Tom Blyth as a teenaged Snow in the first prequel The Hunger Games: Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. President Coriolanus Snow has been Panem’s ruthless dictator for decades, enforcing the cruelties of the Hunger Games on Panem’s twelve districts as well as a tight hold on the Capitol itself.
“We wanted to honor Donald Sutherland by having one of this generation’s greatest actors play President Snow 24 years before Katniss Everdeen entered the arena,” said producer Nina Jacobson of Color Force. “Working with Ralph has been on my bucket list since he traumatized me for life in Schindler’s List. It’s genuinely a thrill to welcome him to the Hunger Games.”
Fiennes has made a career out of playing villainous characters through Schindler’s List, Red Dragon, Harry Potter and The Duchess and several more. Though he is also known for lighter and ‘good guy’ roles like in Daniel Craig’s James Bond series as the next M, The King’s Man, The Constant Gardener and The Grand Budapest Hotel.
Released in March by Suzanne Collins, Sunrise on the Reaping takes fans back to the 50th anniversary of the Hunger Games, otherwise known as the Second Quarter Quell, where fan-favourite Haymitch Abernathy was reaped as one of District 12’s four tributes to compete in the game and won, eventually going on to mentor Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark nearly 25 years later in their own Games.
The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping stars Joseph Zada (Invisible Boys) as Haymitch Abernathy, Whitney Peak (Hocus Pocus 2) as Lenore Dove Baird, McKenna Grace (Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire) as Maysilee Donner, Jesse Plemons (Civil War) as Plutarch Heavensbee, Kelvin Harrison Jr. (Mufasa: The Lion King) as Beetee, Maya Hawke (Stranger Things) as Wiress, Lili Taylor (Outer Range) as Mags and Ralph Fiennes (Conclave) as President Snow.
Francis Lawrence returns to the director’s chair for Sunrise on the Reaping after directing every Hunger Games film since Catching Fire, while original Hunger Games screenwriter Billy Ray pens the script.
The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping will be released on November 20th, 2026.
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