Hunger Games Prequel Reveals First Look at Young Haymitch in Sunrise on the Reaping

Haymitch Abernathy’s victory will be the subject of 2026’s upcoming The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping, and we finally have a first look at Joseph Zada’s young version of Woody Harrelson’s fan-favorite character. Harrelson portrayed Haymitch, District 12’s second victor and the mentor and friend to Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark, in the four original Hunger Games movies. Haymitch won the second Quarter Quell, the 50th Hunger Games, and the events of this dramatic year for the games will be explored in the upcoming The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping.

Joseph Zada was cast in the lead role in The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping back in April 2025, and new set photos (via @thedistrictdispatch) have finally given us a first look at him in character as Haymitch Abernathy. The set photos show a banner depicting Zada’s Haymitch from after his victory in the Hunger Games, captioned with “Our Victor, Your Hero.” The casting for Sunrise on the Reaping has been lauded as some of the best in recent memory, and these set photos prove that Zada was the perfect actor to portray a young Haymitch.

What We Know About The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping

So far, we’ve seen the 74th, 75th and final, and 10th Hunger Games depicted on-screen in The Hunger Games film series. The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping will depict the 50th Hunger Games, and the second Quarter Quell came with a harrowing twist. Instead of 24 tributes being selected for the Hunger Games, the second Quarter Quell doubled the intake at the reaping, with 48 tributes battling out in the arena. This was as a reminder that, during the rebellion, two rebels died for every Capitol citizen, but despite the larger pool of tributes, Haymitch emerged as the victor.

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The movie will be based on Suzanne Collins’ latest Hunger Games novel of the same name, which released back in March 2025. The movie will introduce us to many newcomers to The Hunger Games franchise, but also younger versions of characters such as Effie Trinket (Elizabeth Banks and Elle Fanning), Plutarch Heavensbee (Philip Seymour Hoffman and Jesse Plemons), Beetee (Jeffrey Wright and Kelvin Harrison Jr.), Wiress (Amanda Plummer and Maya Hawke), and more. Ralph Fiennes will also be appearing as President Coriolanus Snow, taking over from the late Donald Sutherland and Tom Blyth, and we’ve also caught a glimpse of Fiennes in his presidential get-up in set photos, too (via @sunriseonthereapingupdates).

Sunrise on the Reaping will fill in one gap between The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes’ 10th Hunger Games and The Hunger Games’ 74th festivities. There are many more stories that are still untold in this complex, interesting, and intense franchise, so Sunrise on the Reaping could lead to even more sequels, prequels, and spinoffs. After recent appearances in Invisible Boys, We Were Liars, and more, Joseph Zada has proven himself to be the perfect choice for a young Haymitch Abernathy, and we can’t wait to see him in action on November 20, 2026.

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