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For the upcoming film ‘The Hunger Games,’ Lionsgate has cast Donald Sutherland as the ruthless autocratic leader of Panem, the world in which heroine Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) and her competitors reside. The role is a critical one for the tween action drama (which has begun shooting in North Carolina), and the studio filled it with a high-caliber veteran.

Sutherland, who will next be seen in the New Line comedy ‘Horrible Bosses’ and recently received acclaim for his performance in the Starz mini-series ‘Pillars of the Earth,’ will play President Snow. When the trilogy begins, he has already ruled with an iron fist over the dystopian environment for 25 years.

For those of you unfamiliar with ‘The Hunger Games,’ the film centers on Katniss Everdeen, a teenager from District 12, who must compete against other minors from the other 11 districts that make up Panem in a fight-to-the-death competition called the Hunger Games. The film is being adapted by director Gary Ross from the first novel in the trilogy by author Suzanne Collins.

Lionsgate has scheduled the movie for release on March 23, 2012.

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-- Nicole Sperling