Elle Fanning (
"The Great",
"A Complete Unknown"),
Maya Hawke (
"Stranger Things"), Oscar winner
Kieran Culkin (
"Succession",
"A Real Pain"), and three-time Oscar nominee
Ralph Fiennes (
"Schindler's List",
"Conclave",
"The Constant Gardener") are the latest additions to the cast of
"The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping", the upcoming prequel to the
Jennifer Lawrence movies, and a sequel to 2023's
"A Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes."
"The Hunger Games" franchise veteran helmer
Francis Lawrence returns to direct from a script by
Billy Ray based on
Suzanne Collins' bestselling book of the same name, which was published on March 18th. The story revisits the world of Panem 24 years before the events of
"The Hunger Games" and 40 years after
"A Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes", starting on the morning of the reaping of the 50th Hunger Games, also known as the Second Quarter Quell. The protagonist, 16-year-old Haymitch, is a clever and resourceful boy from District 12 who's unexpectedly chosen for this edition of the games, which will feature a deadly twist: twice the number of tributes, with 48 children sent into the arena to battle for their lives.
Fanning has been cast as Effie Trinket, the character portrayed by
Elizabeth Banks in the first films. Hawke will take on the role of Wiress, a Hunger Games champion-turned-District 12 mentor. Culkin is set to play Caesar Flickerman, the host of the Hunger Games played by
Stanley Tucci in the previous films. Fiennes has been cast as the villainous President Coriolanus Snow, the formidable leader of Panem previously portrayed by
Donald Sutherland in the original films, and by
Tom Blyth in
"A Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes".
The ensemble cast will also include
Joseph Zada and
Whitney Peak as Haymitch Abernathy and his girlfriend, Lenore Dove Baird,
Mckenna Grace as Maysilee Donner,
Jesse Plemons as Plutarch Heavensbee,
Kelvin Harrison Jr. as Beetee,
Lili Taylor as Mags, and
Ben Wang as Wyatt Callow.
Color Force's
Nina Jacobson and
Brad Simpson are producing, with
Cameron MacConomy serving as executive producer.
Meredith Wieck and
Scott O'Brien are overseeing the project for the studio and
Robert Melnik negotiated deals for Lionsgate.
"The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping" will open in theaters on November 20, 2026.
