THE HUNGER GAMES :
President Snow, who has experience portraying villains, has been cast in the new Hunger Games prequel.
Ralph Fiennes, who played Lord Voldemort in the first Harry Potter movie series, has joined the cast of Sunrise on the Reaping, the eagerly awaited adaptation of Suzanne Collins’s book.
In the original franchise, the late Donald Sutherland played the iconic role of President Coriolanus Snow, which he now plays.
Collins’ best-selling dystopian book series served as the inspiration for the Hunger Games franchise. Jennifer Lawrence played 16-year-old Katniss Everdeen in the first movie series.
She competed in the 74th Hunger Games, a cruel competition meant to quell rebellion in the districts around the repressive Capitol. Each district is compelled by the perverse competition to send a boy and a girl, selected through a lottery, to engage in a lethal, live battle until only one person is left.
The original movie series made over $3.3 billion worldwide between 2012 and 2015. A prequel to The Ballads of Songbirds & Snakes, starring Tom Blyth and Rachel Zegler, debuted in theaters in 2023 and made over $300 million.
Based on Collins’s March 2025 novel, the upcoming film, which is scheduled for release on November 20, 2026, will center on Katniss’s mentor, Haymitch Abernathy,
as he is selected as one of the four tributes from District 12 to participate in the 50th Annual Hunger Games, also known as the Second Quarter Quell.
This prequel will take place 40 years after the events of The Ballads of Songbirds & Snakes, which followed the development of antagonist Coriolanus Snow, and 24 years before Katniss volunteered to replace her sister.
The actors who will portray Haymitch, his love interest Lenore Dove Baird, Maysilee Donner, Plutarch Heavensbee, Beetee, and Wiress have all been announced by Lionsgate thus far. In the upcoming months, more cast members will probably be revealed.
Caesar Flickerman, who was first portrayed by Stanley Tucci in the original movies, is the colorful host of the Hunger Games and conducts interviews with the tributes prior to the competition.
Kieran Culkin, who recently won an Oscar for A Real Pain, will play the part in the prequel, Lionsgate announced.
In the original film series, Donald Sutherland portrayed President Snow for the first time. Tom Blyth, who was in his late 20s at the time, played the part in the first prequel,
The Ballads of Songbirds & Snakes. In the new movie, which is set about forty years later, Fiennes will assume the role. Fiennes has a long film career that includes well-known parts in Schindler’s List and the Oscar-winning Conclave from last year, in addition to his villainous role in the Harry Potter movies.
While the character was originated on screen by Woody Harrelson, the younger version of Haymitch will be played by 20-year-old Joseph Zada. Based on Holden Sheppard’s best-selling book, Zada currently plays the lead in the Stan Australia Original Series Invisible Boys.
In the original films, the late Philip Seymour Hoffman played the role of a secret rebel insider and the Head Gamemaker for the 75th Hunger Games. Oscar nominee Jesse Plemons will play the younger version in Sunrise on the Reaping.
In Catching Fire, Jeffrey Wright plays Beetee, a District 3 winner who is first introduced to the audience. Lionsgate revealed his identity as Kelvin Harrison Jr. on May 12 and he will be coaching the tributes from his district in the 50th games.
District 3’s Wiress emerged as the 49th Hunger Games champion. She was first introduced to fans as Amanda Plummer in Catching Fire. Maya Hawke, star of Stranger Things and daughter of Training Day star Ethan Hawke, will play the younger version of the character, Lionsgate announced on May 14.
Mags from District 4 was first introduced to fans in Catching Fire as a former Hunger Games champion and mentor to Finnick Odair. Lynn Cohen was the first to play the role. Lionsgate revealed on May 14 that Lili Taylor would portray the character’s younger self.
