Ralph Fiennes Cast as President Snow in Hunger Games Prequel Sunrise on the Reaping

Ralph Fiennes Cast As President Snow In Hunger Games Prequel Sunrise On The Reaping

Move over Voldemort. Ralph Fiennes just landed another villain gig — and this time, he’s heading straight for the Capitol.

Lionsgate dropped the bombshell Thursday: Fiennes will play President Coriolanus Snow in The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping. Yes, that President Snow. The cold-blooded tyrant of Panem. The one who made Katniss’s life a dystopian disaster.

President Snow.

The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping – in theaters November 20, 2026. pic.twitter.com/opsl0s8D3w

— lionsgate (@Lionsgate) May 16, 2025

And honestly? Perfect casting.

The announcement hit fans like a mockingjay arrow. According to People, producer Nina Jacobson said they wanted someone who could honor Donald Sutherland’s iconic portrayal of Snow — and Ralph Fiennes, with his eerie calm and Shakespearean menace, checks every box.

Fiennes is no stranger to iconic bad guys. From Schindler’s List to Harry Potter, he’s practically a walking Masterclass on villainy. Now, he’s diving into the Hunger Games universe — 24 years before Katniss volunteers as tribute.

Sunrise on the Reaping is set during the 50th Hunger Games — better known as the Second Quarter Quell — and follows a young Haymitch Abernathy. (Yup, that Haymitch.)

Joseph Zada takes the reins as District 12’s future drunk-mentor, while Gossip Girl’s Whitney Peak plays Capitol upstart Lenore Dove Baird. Mckenna Grace is Maysilee Donner, Haymitch’s ill-fated ally, and Jesse Plemons joins as a younger Plutarch Heavensbee.

Also on deck: Kelvin Harrison Jr. as Beetee, Maya Hawke as Wiress, Lili Taylor as Mags, and Ben Wang as newcomer Wyatt Callow. It’s a loaded cast — and that’s before Fiennes even enters the arena.

Francis Lawrence returns to direct (he helmed Catching Fire and both Mockingjay films), with Billy Ray writing the script.

As for the release? Mark your calendars: Sunrise on the Reaping hits theaters November 20, 2026.

It’s going to be brutal. It’s going to be political. And with Ralph Fiennes calling the shots as Snow, it’s going to be intense.

Let the games begin — again.