Sutherland joins 'Hunger Games' cast

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HOLLYWOOD, May 31 (UPI) -- Donald Sutherland has been cast as President Snow in the Lionsgate production of U.S. writer Suzanne Collins' "The Hunger Games" trilogy, the company said.

Sutherland will star with Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson and Woody Harrelson in the adaptation, The Hollywood Reporter reported Tuesday.

In Collins' science fiction work, Snow is portrayed as cruel and ruthless in ruling Panem and its districts for a quarter-century. He and Lawrence's character have a difficult relationship that carries through the series.

Also starring in "Hunger Games," scheduled for a March 23, 2012 release, are Liam Hemsworth, Elizabeth Banks, Stanley Tucci, Lenny Kravitz, Paula Malcolmson and Wes Bentley.

In September 2008, Scholastic Press released "The Hunger Games," the first book of Collins' trilogy partly inspired by the Greek myth of Theseus and the Minotaur. It was followed by "Catching Fire" in September 2009 and "Mockingjay" in August 2010.