The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping Full Cast & Everything We Know

It’s been a while since author Suzanne Collins has made a trip back to Panem. She last released the Hunger Games prequel, A Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, back in 2020. Since then, fans have been clamoring for an update, and this March, the odds were finally in their favor. Collins released a new prequel, Sunrise on the Reaping, that’s set over two decades before the events of the original trilogy. Almost immediately, the book was picked up for adaptation by Lionsgate. While the film won’t premiere before the end of next year, preparations to start production this year are already underway. 

Until then, here’s everything we know about The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping, based on the novel, the larger franchise lore around it, and all the casting and production updates that we’ve gotten.

Sunrise on the Reaping: Cast, Plot, Release Date & Everything We Know So Far

Set to be released on November 20th next year, the film version of Sunrise on the Reaping will adapt Collins’ best-selling book of the same name. Francis Lawrence, who directed several of the previous Hunger Games films, will be directing this one too.

The book is the second prequel to be added to the series, and explores Panem 24 years before we meet Katniss Everdeen, who was played by Jennifer Lawrence in the original films. It all begins on the morning of the reaping for the 50th Hunger Games, when none other than Haymitch Abernathy is chosen to be one of the tributes. To celebrate the 50th anniversary, aka the Second Quarter Quell, not two but four tributes were selected to participate in the games. 16-year-old Haymitch has his heart set on a beautiful girl when he is selected as tribute, but theirs is a romance doomed from the start. The story follows the young boy as he attempts to build the foundations of a revolution that is finally realised two decades later. The book focuses on the trauma and the heartbreak of having everything he holds dear ripped apart. We finally see Haymitch before he became the drunken cynic we meet in the original trilogy, and realise why he became the way he is. 

In the original films, Woody Harrelson played Katniss’ jaded yet oddly endearing mentor; in the upcoming film, Joseph Zada will play the hopeful and young version of Haymitch. The Aussie actor previously appeared in Total Control and Invisible Boys – he has a few upcoming projects this year, including Prime Video’s We Were Liars and a Netflix adaptation of John Steinbeck’s East of Eden. Aside from him, we have Whitney Peak, of Hocus Pocus 2 and Gossip Girl revival fame, as Lenore Dove Baird, Haymitch’s love interest, who is said to have a voice like moonlight.

Ghostbusters star McKenna Grace will be playing another District 12 tribute, Maysilee Donner. Maysilee is going to play an especially vital role in the story and the rebellion, and has an important connection to the Mockingjay pin. Kelvin Harrison Jr. has been cast to play the younger version of Beetee — the tech genius — who was played by Jeffrey Wright in the original films. In this film, he will not just appear as the winner of the 34th Hunger Games but as the father of one of the tributes. 

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The late Philip Seymour Hoffman once played the role of Plutarch Heavensbee, the rebel leader who quickly went on to become a fan favorite. Oscar nominee Jesse Plemons, of Breaking Bad, Fargo, and Black Mirror fame, has been cast to play the role of Plutarch in this film. Lili Taylor will be stepping into the shoes of the indomitable Mags, while Wiress, the lady who will guide Haymitch through the madness and politics of it all, will be played by none other than the incredible Maya Hawke. Ben Wang, who appeared in Karate Kid: Legends, has been cast to portray Wyatt Callow, another District 12 tribute. His fellow tribute, Louella, will be played by Molly McCann, who has worked in projects like Star Wars: Visions and The Boy That Never Was. Iona Bell is taking up the role of Louella’s lookalike, Lou Lou. Kieran Culkin (Succession) is set to play a younger Caesar Flickerman, who was originally portrayed by Stanley Tucci. 

Coriolanus Snow is returning in this film, and Lord Voldemort actor Ralph Fiennes has been brought in to portray the malicious, spidery president of Panem. Finally, there’s Effie Trinket; fans have been wondering who would play her since the project was first announced. Much to everyone’s delight, it seems none other than the ever-warm and endlessly endearing Elle Fanning will be stepping into the role of Effie. 

The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping has a release date of November 20, 2026.