Ralph Fiennes and More Join New ‘Hunger Games’ Prequel

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(Left) Ralph Fiennes. Photo: Jeff Spicer/Getty Images. (Center) Maya Hawke. Photo: Trevor Tweeten. (Right) Lili Taylor. Photo: Michael Loccisano/Getty Images for The National Audubon Society.

Preview:

Ralph Fiennes will be President Snow in the new ‘Hunger Games’ prequel.
Maya Hawke, Lili Taylor and Kelvin Harrison Jr. are also joining the cast.
The movie is set 24 years before the main movies.

Though we’ve been seeing a drip feed casting process for the new prequel to ‘The Hunger Games’ –– that would be ‘Sunrise on the Reaping,’ in case it had somehow slipped your mind –– that turned into something of a torrent this week with a slew of new announcements.

Deadline brought the biggest news: Ralph Fiennes, who has a little bit of form playing the Big Bad in a book-based movie franchise, will become the latest actor to play the calculating Coriolanus Snow, who we meet as a younger man in previous prequel ‘The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes,’ there played by Tom Blyth and was most famously portrayed by Donald Sutherland as President Snow in the original four movies based on Suzanne Collins’ novel trilogy.

This is what producer Nina Jacobson of Color Force had to say about the new casting:

“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.”

Ben Wang in Columbia Pictures ‘Karate Kid: Legends’. Photo: Sony Pictures.

And that’s not all! Maya Hawke, most recently seen in ‘Maestro’ and ‘The Kill Room’ and who provided the voice of Anxiety in ‘Inside Out 2,’ will be Wiress, former Hunger Games champion–turned–District 12 mentor.

Also on new additions list? Lili Taylor, who Deadline has learned will be Mags, another former champion who is now a mentor for one of the District 12 tributes. And Ben Wang, who broke out in Disney+ series ‘American Born Chinese’ and will be one of the leads of ‘Karate Kid: Legends,’ has landed the role of District 12 Tribute Wyatt Callow.

Last, and by no means least among the newcomers (in franchise terms) is Kelvin Harrison, Jr., last seen in ‘O’Dessa,’ who Jeff Sneider reports will be Beetee Latier, champion of the 34th Hunger Games and father of Ampert Latier, who is a Tribute in the new movie. Fun fact: Jeffrey Wright played Beetee in three of the original movies.

Franchise veteran Francis Lawrence is directing once again from a script by Billy Ray, and the cameras are now rolling.

What’s the story of ‘The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping’?

‘The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping’ is scheduled for release on November 20, 2026. Photo: Lionsgate.

While the previous prequel took place 64 years before the events of the original trilogy, ‘The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping’ is set 24 years before that trio of Jennifer Lawrence films in the world of Panem, commencing on the morning of the reaping of the 50th Hunger Games, also known as the Second Quarter Quell.

Those games are an important event in the canon as the victor was Haymitch Abernathy, the only winner from District 12 before Lawrence’s Katniss Everdeen and Josh Hutcherson’s Peeta Mellark’s tie win. Haymitch continues on to become a mentor, a character in the original movies played by Woody Harrelson.

Who else has been cast in ‘The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping’?

(Left) Joseph Zada to star as Haymitch Abernathy in ‘The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping’. Photo credit: Hugh Stewart. (Right) Whitney Peak to star as Lenore Dove Bard in ‘The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping’. Photo: Kate Whyte.

These new arrivals bolster a cast that already included Joseph Zada and Whitney Peak, who will play Haymitch Abernathy and the woman he loves, Lenore Dove Baird.

In addition to the two leads, we also now know that McKenna Grace, who has appeared in the recent ‘Ghostbusters’ movies, will be in the movie as Maysilee Donner, Haymitch’s fellow District 12 Tribute, while Jesse Plemons has the role of Plutarch Heavensbee, as brought to life by Philip Seymour Hoffman in the original movies.

Kieran Culkin accepts the award for Male Supporting Actor – Motion Picture at the 82nd Annual Golden Globe Awards, airing live from the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California on Sunday, January 5, 2025, at 8 PM ET/5 PM PT, on CBS and streaming on Paramount+. Photo: Sonja Flemming/CBS ©2025 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Fiennes’ casting resolves one rumor –– there has still been chatter about recent Academy Award winner Kieran Culkin mulling an offer to play Caesar Flickerman (the eccentric host character played in the first film series by Stanley Tucci.) Nothing official has been announced about that yet, so we can only assume a deal is still being worked on if at all.

Elle Fanning has also been linked with the role of a younger Effie Trinket; the effusive stylist as portrayed by Elizabeth Banks in the original ‘Hunger Games’ movies. But that has yet to be confirmed.

‘The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping’: Collins and the filmmakers talk

Director Francis Lawrence in ‘The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.’ Photo Credit: Murray Close.

Here’s Suzanne Collins’ statement on the new book and movie:

“With ‘Sunrise on the Reaping’, I was inspired by David Hume’s idea of implicit submission and, in his words, ‘the easiness with which the many are governed by the few… The story also lent itself to a deeper dive into the use of propaganda and the power of those who control the narrative. The question ‘Real or not real?’ seems more pressing to me every day. From the beginning, Lionsgate has been a wonderful home and partner for the ‘Hunger Games’ franchise, and I’m very excited to be collaborating with Adam and the team as we bring this next story to theaters in 2026.”

And here’s Lionsgate Motion Picture Group Chair Adam Fogelson:

“Suzanne Collins is a master storyteller and our creative north star. We couldn’t be more fortunate than to be guided and trusted by a collaborator whose talent and imagination are so consistently brilliant. We know ‘Hunger Games’ fans worldwide will be spellbound by where Suzanne has focused this next extraordinary story. The Second Quarter Quell is legendary and looms large over the history of the Games, even into the time of Katniss Everdeen a quarter-century later. Like fans around the globe, we are eagerly anticipating this exciting return to Panem.”