At this point, when we get word of a new casting announcement for The Hunger Games: Sunrise On The Reaping, we generally find ourselves saying “stranger things have happened.” After all, Francis Lawrence’s upcoming Games prequel has welcomed the likes of Jesse Plemons, McKenna Grace, and Kelvin Harrison Jr. to its increasingly stacked roster already. But today, Stranger Things really have happened: as shared on the movie’s official Instagram account this evening, Maya Hawke — whose big break came playing Robin Buckley in the Duffer Brothers’ Netflix smash — is gearing up to trade Hawkins for District 12 with a key role in Lawrence’s new film.
Per Lionsgate’s announcement video, Hawke is set to play eccentric District 3 champion-turned-District 12 mentor Wiress (formerly played by Amanda Plummer in The Hunger Games: Catching Fire) in Sunrise On The Reaping, a movie set 24 years before Katniss Everdeen first entered the arena and focused on fan-favourite Haymitch Abernathy’s games. Elsewhere, relative newcomer Joseph Zada is taking on Woody Harrelson’s The Hunger Games role as a young Haymitch here, with Ghostbusters: Afterlife star McKenna Grace aboard as fellow District 12 tribute Maysilee Donner; Whitney Peak locked in as Haymitch’s love interest Lenore Dove Baird; Jesse Plemons carrying the responsibility of the late Philip Seymour Hoffman’s gamemaker/rebel Plutarch Heavensbee; Kelvin Harrison Jr. landing the part of Beetee (formerly played by Jeffrey Wright); and Lili Taylor just tonight confirmed to be playing District 4 champion-turned-District 12 mentor Mags after weeks of rumours that I’m Still Here star Fernanda Torres might’ve been up for the part.
Following hot on the heels of 2023’s $349 million grossing Coriolanus Snow origin picture The Ballad Of Songbirds And Snakes, The Hunger Games: Sunrise On The Reaping will serve as our sixth big screen journey into the YA kill-or-die world author Suzanne Collins created some 17 years ago. The Games are set to begin again when Francis Lawrence’s prequel hits cinemas on 20 November, 2026. We volunteer as tribute… to go and watch on opening night!
