Sunrise On The Reaping Finally Cast President Snow. While I Think They Missed An Opportunity, I'm Also Obsessed With This Choice

Though it’s not set to debut on the 2025 movie schedule, the casting process for Sunrise on the Reaping is a huge event taking place on this page of the calendar. Fans of The Hunger Games have been following rather closely, while also having their own dream candidates for key roles in this Haymitch Abernathy-centric prequel.

And while the role of President Snow has finally been cast with an A-lister I’ll always show up for, there’s a huge missed opportunity that I have to talk about - as I still kind of wish it happened.

Ralph Fiennes Adds The Hunger Games To His Notorious YA Villain Trophy Case

I really cannot fault the logic that saw the powers that be casting Academy Award nominee Ralph Fiennes as the next iteration of President Coriolanus Snow. What’s crazy is that THR’s announcement of this Hunger Games news has actually landed on the three-year anniversary of actor Tom Blyth landing this very role in The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes cast.

While commemorating this new move, producer Nina Jacobson offered the following statement:

Naturally, whenever someone mentions “Ralph Fiennes” and “YA” in the same sentence, images of his portrayal of Harry Potter’s Voldemort come flooding to mind. That’s with good reason, too, as the man used those skills that made him a chilling Nazi officer in Steven Spielberg’s Holocaust drama on a literary figure that swims in some very similar circles.

So casting through pop culture trauma is definitely a solid move, especially with this Conclave star. That being said, I have to side with the Hunger Games fans for a moment, as Sunrise on the Reaping has lost yet another prime opportunity to honor families in the performing arts.

I Still Wonder How Kiefer Sutherland Would Have Done As President Snow

I get that nepotistic casting isn’t always the answer, and I need to restate the fact that I still love Ralph Fiennes as the new President Snow. But just as loyal revolutionaries of Panem flooded TikTok hoping for Cooper Hoffman to succeed his father as the younger Plutarch Heavensbee in Sunrise on the Reaping, I was right there with them in casting Kiefer Sutherland as a younger version of his father’s menacing politician.

Once again, the actor who landed the gig is not a bad choice, especially with Jesse Plemons playing young Plutarch in this second prequel. But considering that Hoffman is another consummate performer who’s shone brightly in an Alex Garland war story, it’s another possibility that’ll live on in my head.

Even with my fan-casting brain warmed up, the potential reasons for not casting Cooper Hoffman or Kiefer Sutherland are just as valid. I wouldn't want either of them to be stressed by living up to their father’s legacies; with Hoffman previously discussing those pressures in his upcoming Stephen King film The Long Walk. It’s an unfair concept, as both men are exemplary performers in their own right, which circles right back to why they were fan-cast in the first place.

I will say, for someone who’s never been an intense fan of The Hunger Games, Ralph Fiennes’ casting as President Snow kind of inspires me to finally watch The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. There’s plenty of time to either catch up with or rewatch this landmark YA saga, as The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping is set to dawn in theaters on November 20, 2026.