From electing a new Pope, to fighting off zombies, and now to The Hunger Games: Ralph Fiennes is stepping up as President Snow in Lionsgate’s Sunrise on the Reaping.

Ralph Fiennes will play the ruthless Panem dictator in Francis Lawrence’s upcoming film. He joins Joseph Zada, Whitney Peak, Mckenna Grace, Jesse Plemons, Kelvin Harrison Jr., Maya Hawke, Lili Taylor and Ben Wang. The British actor, best known for Conclave and the Harry Potter franchise, will be stepping into a role previously portrayed by the late Donald Sutherland in the series’ first four films, and later by Tom Blyth as a younger version of the character in the prequel film The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes.

“We wanted to honour 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. “Working with Ralph has been on my bucket list since he traumatised me for life in Schindler’s List. It’s genuinely a thrill to welcome him to the Hunger Games.”

The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping lands in cinemas on November 20th, 2026, with Lawrence directing from a script by Billy Ray that adapts Suzanne Collins’ book. The novel returns readers to Panem on the morning of the reaping for the 50th Hunger Games.