The Hunger Games: House of the Dragon Star Addresses Young Haymitch Fancasts

Suzanne Collins’ Hunger Games franchise is getting a new story, with a new book and film titled Sunrise on the Reaping announced to massive fanfare earlier this summer. The new prequel is expected to build on existing franchise lore surrounding the Fiftieth Hunger Games, and fans have assumed that the games’ victor, a young Haymitch Abernathy (played by Woody Harrelson in the movies), will factor in some way. There have already been plenty of fan campaigns over who should take on the role of Haymitch, and one of those contenders is breaking his silence on the possibility. In a recent interview with Vestal, House of the Dragon star Tom Glynn-Carney addressed fans wanting him to play Haymitch in the Sunrise on the Reaping movie, and hinted that he is more than willing to take on the role.

“No way, that’s the first I’ve heard of it!” Glynn-Carney revealed. “But I’m incredibly flattered that people would like to see me on screen again. If all goes well, I’ll fight for my life in the Hunger Games!”

What Is the New Hunger Games Movie About?

Sunrise on the Reaping revisits the world of Panem twenty-four years before the events of The Hunger Games, starting on the morning of the reaping of the Fiftieth Hunger Games, also known as the Second Quarter Quell.

“With Sunrise on the Reaping, I was inspired by David Hume’s idea of implicit submission and, in his words, ‘the easiness with which the many are governed by the few,’” Collins said in a statement announcing the book. “The story also lent itself to a deeper dive into the use of propaganda and the power of those who control the narrative. The question ‘Real or not real?’ seems more pressing to me every day.”

Will There Be More Hunger Games Movies?

In addition to the story of Haymitch’s Hunger Games, fans have also hoped to one day get a prequel surrounding Finnick Odair, who won the 65th Hunger Games and became a pivotal and tragic part of the next Quarter Quell. Collins has repeatedly stated that her Hunger Games entries are a way for her to “examine” a real-world topic, with franchise director Francis Lawrence indicating that another film installment wouldn’t happen without Collins having a specific narrative in mind. 

“If Suzanne has another thematic idea that she feels fits into the world of Panem — whether that’s with new people [or] familiar characters [like] Finnick, Haymitch, whoever — I’d be really interested in looking at it and being a part of it,” Lawrence told Entertainment Weekly in an interview last year. “But I don’t have any pull of just going, ‘I would love to do Finnick’s games.’ He’s a great character, but what’s the thematic underpinnings that make it worth telling and relevant?”

Sunrise on the Reaping will be released wherever books are sold on March 18, 2025, followed by the movie adaptation on November 20, 2026.