The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping has cast its young Wiress. The Tribute for District 3 and the victor of the 49th Hunger Games will be played by Maya Hawke in the new prequel movie, which will begin filming in July. Hawk joins previously-announced cast members Joseph Zada, Whitney Peak, Mckenna Grace, Maysilee Donner, Jesse Plemons, and Kelvin Harrison Jr. The movie adapts Suzanne Collins’ latest novel, which just hit shelves in March of this year. The story centers around the District 12 Tribute Haymitch Abernathy and the 50th Hunger Games. It is currently scheduled to debut in theaters on November 20, 2026.
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Sunrise on the Reaping is set 24 years before the events of The Hunger Games, and 40 years after the most recent prequel, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. It’s about the second “Quarter Quell,” so the Hunger Games are especially shocking and brutal in this year. As the previous year’s winner, Wiress will be an important figure in the world of Panem at this time. Those who have read the novel already know the part she has to play here, but for those that don’t, perhaps the casting of an actor like Hawke is a hint of how influential she will be.
The daughter of actors Uma Thurman and Ethan Hawke, Maya Hawke has had a meteoric rise to prominence in recent years thanks to roles in Stranger Things, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, and Asteroid City, among other productions. She is 26 years old, and her most recent role was playing Anxiety in Disney-Pixar’s Inside Out 2.
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Wiress was played by Amanda Plummer in the main Hunger Games series. She spent most of her time there teamed up with Beetee Latier, another previous victor from District 3. Beetee was played by Jeffrey Wright, while Harrison is playing him in the prequel. Both characters are renowned for their intellect and their technological skill, since District 3’s primary export is technology.
Wiress is severely traumatized at the time of the main series, but she’ll be characterized quite differently when this prequel begins. While she may have some eccentricities, she won’t have the same obvious signs of PTSD she displays later on. That makes this a major role for Hawke, as she will be responsible for developing Wiress into the character we see later on without casting any doubts on her capabilities and intelligence.
The film adaptation of Sunrise on the Reaping hits theaters on November 20, 2026. Collins’ book is available now in print, digital, and audiobook formats.
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