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By Billie Melissa
Contributing Entertainment Writer
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Hunger Games fans have been waiting with bated breath since Sunrise on the Reaping hit bookstores last month for any crumb of news about who would play who in the upcoming film.
We now finally have our first confirmed cast members courtesy of Lionsgate, who dropped the news that Joseph Zada and Whitney Peak are the first two stars to join the production.
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Zada, whose previous credits include the role of Charlie Roth in the TV series Invisible Boys and the upcoming adaptation of E. Lockhart's young adult novel We Were Liars, will play Haymitch Abernathy.
An older Haymitch was previously portrayed by Woody Harrelson, who starred alongside Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson in the first four The Hunger Games movies.
Sunrise on the Reaping follows the 50th Hunger Games, also known as the year Haymitch won.
Peake joins the cast as Lenore Dove, Haymitch's love, and a descendant of Lucy Gray Baird. Baird was portrayed by Rachel Zegler in the 2023 movie The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes.
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The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping may not hit theaters until next fall, but we've gathered everything we know so far about the film.
You can find the Sunrise on the Reaping cast list, plot details for Sunrise on the Reaping, and the Sunrise on the Reaping release date below.
Who Will Be In Sunrise on the Reaping?
Much rumor and speculation have been flying about the internet since Sunrise on the Reaping hit bookshelves last month, and we now finally have our first confirmed cast members.
Joseph Zada will star as Haymitch Abernathy, and Whitney Peak will play Lenore Dove.
Further casting announcements have not yet been made.
For the people who enjoy speculation, we've got both the confirmed and rumored cast listed below:
Confirmed cast:
- Joseph Zada (Haymitch Abernathy)
- Whitney Peak (Lenore Dove)
- McKenna Grace (Maysilee Donner)
- Jesse Plemons (Plutarch Heavensbee)
- Kelvin Harrison Jr. (Beetee Latier)
- Maya Hawke (Wiress)
- Lili Taylor (Mags Flanagan)
- Ben Wang (Wyatt Callow)
- Molly McCann (Louella McCoy)
- Iona Bell (Lou Lou)
- Ralph Fiennes (Coriolanus Snow)
- Elle Fanning (Effie Trinket)
- Kieran Culkin (Caesar Flickerman)
- Glenn Close (Drusilla Sickle)
- Billy Porter (Magno Stift)
What Will Happen in Sunrise on the Reaping?
Sunrise on the Reaping depicts the second quarter quell, otherwise known as the games that the beloved franchise character, Haymitch Abernathy, won.
The film takes place 24 years before the first The Hunger Games film and shows Haymitch's own foray into rebellion. It serves as the original story for the quiet District 12 boy who becomes the man we know now.
Sunrise on the Reaping Release Date
Sunrise on the Reaping will hit theaters on November 20, 2026.
Sunrise on the Reaping First Look
There are no first-look images from the set or trailers to quench our thirst just yet, but Lionsgate did give fans a little something to hang onto during this year's CinemaCon.
During their panel, the studio revealed the project with a minute-long video which actually gives away more than meets the eye.
If you've not read the book, you won't know that the opening image represents the volcano from the arena of Haymitch's games.
Following the volcano, we see the lava trickle down, but we learn that it's wrapping the scales of a snake, which then cuts to the feathers of a Mockingjay.
The video culminates with the snake and Mockingjay facing off as they connect to form the flint striker that dons the cover of Suzanne Collins's book.
Hunger Games fans were also thrilled to hear the voice of Woody Harrelson, who plays Haymitch in the first four films. He says, "I think these games are going to be different."
He couldn't be more right.
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