Ralph Fiennes has been cast as President Snow in The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping.

      **Focus Features**

      Ralph Fiennes is set to add another memorable movie villain to his impressive repertoire. The actor, known for portraying Voldemort in the Harry Potter series, will now take on the role of President Snow in The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping. Joining him is a cast that includes Joseph Zada as Haymitch Abernathy, Whitney Peak as Lenore Dove Baird, Mckenna Grace as Maysilee Donner, Jesse Plemons as Plutarch Heavensbee, Maya Hawke as Wiress, Kelvin Harrison Jr. as Beetee, Lili Taylor as Mags, and Ben Wang as Wyatt.

      Fiennes becomes the third actor to portray this character, following Donald Sutherland, who depicted an older version in the original films, and Tom Blyth, who played a younger version in The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. The timeline for Sunrise occurs between that film and the original series.

      “Honoring Donald Sutherland by casting one of the greatest actors of this generation to play President Snow 24 years prior to Katniss Everdeen entering the arena was important to us,” producer Nina Jacobson shared. “Collaborating with Ralph has been a dream of mine since he left a lasting impression on me in Schindler’s List. We are genuinely excited to welcome him to the Hunger Games franchise.”

      Fiennes is already a legendary actor recognized for roles beyond Voldemort, including performances in The Grand Budapest Hotel, The English Patient, and, of course, Schindler’s List. He is also set to feature in 28 Years Later, which will be released in theaters later this year. Sunrise on the Reaping is scheduled for release on November 20, 2026, and will be directed by Francis Lawrence, who has directed every film in the franchise since Catching Fire.

      **Joe Allen** is a freelance writer for Digital Trends, covering Movies and TV, and frequently writes about streaming…

      **Explaining the Ending of The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes**

      **Warning: This article contains spoilers for The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes (2023).**

      By the time young Coriolanus Snow (Tom Blyth) decides to escape the dystopian world of Panem with Lucy Gray Baird (Rachel Zegler) in the climax of The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, the groundwork for his transformation into a future tyrant has already been laid. Not only has he betrayed his best friend, Sejanus Plinth (Josh Andrés Rivera), by reporting him to the nefarious Dr. Gaul (Viola Davis) for conspiring against the Capitol, he has also received a one-way ticket to a more desirable future, courtesy of his Peacekeeper superior.

      **Is Jennifer Lawrence returning to The Hunger Games franchise?**

      In 2012, Jennifer Lawrence had already begun her ascent to stardom with her Oscar-nominated performance in Winter's Bone and her role as Mystique in X-Men: First Class. Nonetheless, her career reached even greater heights when she was cast as Katniss Everdeen in the movie adaptation of Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games. Lawrence reprised her role in three sequels that adapted the remaining novels in Collins' trilogy. These films not only established Lawrence as a box-office success but also solidified her status as an icon within the Young Adult film genre.

      Since moving on from the franchise, Lawrence won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her lead role in Silver Linings Playbook. However, despite leaving Katniss behind eight years ago, there is still curiosity about the possibility of her revisiting one of her most renowned characters. While promoting her latest film, No Hard Feelings, Lawrence was directly asked about a potential return to the Hunger Games franchise and provided a rather definitive response regarding her feelings about the character that helped elevate her to superstardom.

      **The Hunger Games prequel, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, releases its first trailer**

      Return to Panem and explore the origins of a young Coriolanus Snow (Billy the Kid's Tom Blyth), decades before he would become the tyrannical president of the nation, in the initial trailer for the prequel film The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes. The movie is based on the novel of the same name by Suzanne Collins, the author of The Hunger Games.

      Set 64 years prior to the events of The Hunger Games, the film follows an 18-year-old Snow searching for purpose as he attempts to bring honor back to his disgraced family in the Capitol. With the 10th Annual Hunger Games approaching, Snow is tasked with mentoring the female tribute from District 12, Lucy Gray Baird (Rachel Zegler from West Side Story). As Hunger Games co-creator Casca Highbottom (