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Just days after Lionsgate unveiled the first teaser trailer for "The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping" at CinemaCon , casting news for the second prequel in "The Hunger Games" series has emerged. Foreign media outlet Nexus Point News exclusively reported that Lionsgate has shortlisted rising star Charlie Plummer (pictured left), known for "All the Money in the World," for the lead role of Haymitch Abernathy.
"Sunrise on the Reaping" is set 24 years before the events of the original "Hunger Games" trilogy. It will chronicle 16-year-old Haymitch's experience as he competes in and ultimately wins the 50th Hunger Games. Woody Harrelson previously portrayed the adult Haymitch in the original four films, and Plummer is now poised to take on the role of his younger self.
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Additionally, renowned entertainment reporter Daniel Richtman reported on his Patreon page this morning that Ralph Fiennes has been invited to join the film as a middle-aged President Snow. He would be the third actor to portray the character on the big screen, following Tom Blyth's "younger" version in "The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes" and Donald Sutherland's "elderly" portrayal in the original films.
Richtman also revealed that this year's Oscar winner for Best Supporting Actor, Kieran Culkin (pictured left), has been approached to play a younger version of the Hunger Games announcer and commentator, Caesar Flickerman. Stanley Tucci played the character's middle-aged iteration in the original four films.
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Francis Lawrence, who directed the latter three films of the original quadrilogy and "The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes," is set to return to direct "Sunrise on the Reaping." Billy Ray, screenwriter of the first "Hunger Games" film, is returning to pen the script. The film is an adaptation of Suzanne Collins' novel of the same name, which was published in March 2025. It is slated for a North American theatrical release on November 20, 2026, with production expected to begin this July in Germany.