Lionsgate is doing a good job of trying to turn The Hunger Games into a must-see for teen crowd, with each snippet of casting news – often of young people no one’s ever heard – announced with a bit of fanfare, as well as getting the first pics out with a story for EW, even though the movie’s only just started filming. Suzanne Collins’ books are massively popular, but it seems with the film they’re trying to really make it seem massive, in similar way to what Summit did with Twilight, by turning the adaptation of a popular young adult book into something that appears to be a movie event (at least to the audience it was targeted at).
While most Hunger Games casting has concentrated on the whipper-snappers who are selected to compete in the titular Games, now comes a much more revered face in the form of Donald Sutherland, who’ll be playing the villainous President Snow in the movie. The movie is set in a future society where the US has broken down into separate factions, and the nation of Panem forces each of its twelve districts to send a teenage boy and girl to compete in The Hunger Games. Part twisted entertainment, part government intimidation tactic, The Hunger Games are a nationally televised event in which ‘Tributes’ must fight with one another until one survivor remains. The lead character is Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence), who is representing District 12, replacing her chosen younger sister.
According to the press release about Sutherland’s casting, President Snow has been the autocratic ruler of Panem and its contained districts for some 25 years at the outset of the story. He is cruel and ruthless in his intimidation and control tactics.
Sutherland is a great addition to a cast that also includes Liam Hemsworth, Josh Hutcherson, Elizabeth Banks, Woody Harrelson, Stanley Tucci, Lenny Kravitz, Wes Bentley, and lots of good looking young, but lesser known, actors who’ll be battling against Lawrence in the Hunger Games.