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Culture May 16, 2025

'The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping' taps Ralph Fiennes as President Snow

WATCH: 'The White Crow' director Ralph Fiennes on his new film

"The Hunger Games" has found its next Coriolanus Snow for the forthcoming prequel film, "The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping."

In a social media post Friday, the franchise revealed "Harry Potter" and "Conclave" star Ralph Fiennes will take on the role of the hard-hearted autocratic president of Panem.

Fiennes follows in the footsteps of the late Donald Sutherland, who played President Snow starting in 2012 with the first "Hunger Games" film and its subsequent sequels.

Jesse Plemons is Plutarch Heavensbee in 'The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping'
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Tom Blyth played the character in the 2023 prequel "The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes."

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"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," producer Nina Jacobson said in a statement. "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."

Filming for 'Sunrise on the Reaping' to begin in July
PHOTO: Ralph Fiennes attends the photocall of the film "The Return" at BCN Film Fest at Hotel Casa Fuster on May 2, 2025, in Barcelona, Spain.
Mario Wurzburger/WireImage via Getty Images, FILE
Ralph Fiennes attends the photocall of the film "The Return" at BCN Film Fest at Hotel Casa Fuster on May 2, 2025, in Barcelona, Spain.

The announcement follows Thursday's reveal of "American Born Chinese" star Ben Wang as Wyatt Callow, a tribute from District 12, as well as a host of other surprise castings shared as Instagram Reels on the Lionsgate and "Hunger Games" pages.

Also joining the cast for the fifth movie are Joseph Zada, Whitney Peak, Mckenna Grace, Jesse Plemons, Maya Hawke and Lili Taylor.

"The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping" hits theaters Nov. 20, 2026.