The Hunger Games Movie Drops MAJOR News And I Am Unbelievably Stoked
The beauty about cable television is that it allows me to watch the same movies over and over. If you still pay for cable and haven't cut the cord entirely yet, I'm sure you can relate - it's guaranteed every weekend some channel has either Harry Potter, Step Brothers, Wedding Crashers, Grown Ups, or one of the four The Hunger Games movies.
It's great, until you realize that, because it's always on in the background, you suddenly know all the words and scenes that you could recite in your sleep. But it has also made me a HUGE, and I mean HUGE fan of The Hunger Games.
On Friday, Lionsgate officially announced that actor Ralph Fiennes, known as the character who portrayed Voldemort in the Harry Potter films, as well as recently starring in Conclave, will take on the role of President Snow in the forthcoming film The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping. The official social media accounts tweeted out a trailer confirming the rumored announcement that I had written about a few weeks ago.
HUNGER GAMES CAST IS STACKED
Fiennes will follow the late Donald Sutherland, who portrayed Panem dictator Coriolanus Snow in the franchise's first four original films that debuted in theaters in 2012. Sunrise will take place a little over 20 years before the original movie storyline featuring Katniss Everdeen (played by Jennifer Lawrence).
"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. 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," producer Nina Jacobson told The Hollywood Reporter.
Originally, there had been some online backlash from diehard fans that were pushing for Kiefer Sutherland to replace his father, however overall sentiment and reaction on Friday was positive with Fiennes' official announcement. He will join what is gearing up to be an absolutely STACKED cast featuring Mckenna Grace, Jesse Plemons, Joseph Zada, Whitney Peak, Maya Hawke and more in the movie adaptation of Suzannae Collins'' best-selling novel.
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FANS WILL HAVE TO WAIT A BIT THOUGH…
"This casting director is the best to exist," wrote one person on X.
"This cast is insane. This movie might make a billion dollars!" exclaimed another.
That certainly is Lionsgate's hope, as the first five movies in the franchise have brought in over $3.3 billion!
The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping opens in theaters on November 20, 2026.
ARE YOU EXCITED FOR THE NEW HUNGER GAMES FILM? TWEET ME YOUR REACTIONS: @TheGunzShow