The news comes from The Hollywood Reporter. The character was first portrayed on screen by the late Donald Sutherland in the original Hunger Games film series, which debuted a new film every year from 2012 until 2015. “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 says in a statement to THR. “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 was nominated for an Oscar earlier this year for his performance in Conclave, his third nomination after Schindler’s List and The English Patient. It’s also, notably, the second time he’s played the big bad in a major franchise adapted from a YA novel series, the other of course being Lord Voldemort in the Harry Potter series.
Sunrise On The Reaping will focus on the 50th Hunger Games, which fans of the series will recognize as the games that Haymitch Abernathy, portrayed by Woody Harrelson in the original film series, won. The film has had a busy week of casting announcements, with Maya Hawke joining the cast as Wiress, the winner of the 49th Hunger Games. Lili Taylor also joined this week as Mags, winner of the 11th Hunger Games, and Kelvin Harrison as Beetee, winner of the 35th Hunger Games, per Deadline. Last month, the film cast Jesse Plemons as Gamemaker Plutarch Heavensbee, played in the original films by Philip Seymour Hoffman. Joseph Zada will step into the young Haymitch role. The sun may be rising on the reaping, but snow will fall eventually.
