New Cast Announced for Hunger Games Prequel

Lionsgate's 'The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping,' scheduled for release on November 20, 2026, will serve as a prequel set 24 years before the original series and focus on a young Haymitch Abernathy, played by Joseph Zada, during the 50th Hunger Games, or Second Quarter Quell. Kelvin Harrison Jr. has been cast as Beetee, the tech-savvy District 3 champion, taking over the role from Jeffrey Wright, while Maya Hawke joins the cast as Wiress, a former victor turned mentor. Additional cast includes Whitney Peak as Lenore Dove Baird, Mckenna Grace as Maysilee Donner, and Jesse Plemons as a young Plutarch Heavensbee. Directed by Francis Lawrence and written by Billy Ray, the film is based on Suzanne Collins' bestselling novel. The story revisits the traumatic events and brutal legacy of the Games in Panem 24 years before Katniss Everdeen's rebellion. The film is produced by Color Force’s Nina Jacobson and Brad Simpson, with Cameron MacConomy as executive producer.