Joseph Zada stars as young Haymitch, who is selected as one of the tributes for the 50th Hunger Games, aka the Second Quarter Quell. Each district is required to send twice as many tributes to the Capitol to compete to the death. Haymitch’s fellow District 12 tributes are Maysilee (Mckenna Grace), Wyatt (Ben Wang), and Louella (Molly McCann). If you’ve read all the books and seen the films, you already know Haymitch wins his Games; the suspense (and the emotional stakes) lies in how he pulls it off—and what he loses in the process.
The cast also includes Jesse Plemons as a young cameraman named Plutarch; Ralph Fiennes as a middle-aged President Snow; Glenn Close as District 12 chaperone Drusilla Sickle; Kieran Culkin as a young Caesar Flickerman, host of the Games; Elle Fanning as the young Effie Trinket, a stylist; Billy Porter as another stylist, Magno Stift; Maya Hawke as a young Wiress, winner of the prior year’s Games; Lili Taylor as the young Mags Flanagan, winner of the 11th Games; Kelvin Harrison Jr. as Beetee Latier, another prior winner and father to District 3 tribute Ampert (Percy Daggs IV); and Whitney Peak as Haymitch’s girlfriend, Lenore Dove Baird.
We’ll also meet Asterid March (Grace Ackary), BFF to Maysilee and future mother to Katniss, as well as Burdock Everdeen (Scot Greenan), future father to Katniss. Lawrence and Hutcherson will reprise their respective roles in the film as Katniss and Peeta, most likely in a flash-forward cameo to set up the segue into the original film.
The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping opens in theaters on November 20, 2026.