Back in March, Suzanne Collins returned us to the Hunger Games universe with the release of Sunrise on the Reaping, a prequel focused on the story of side character Haymitch Abernathy. A film adaptation was announced alongside it; it is currently in production and scheduled to be released in November of 2026. While we wait, here’s all the information we have so far.
Francis Lawrence will be returning as director; he has directed every film in the franchise except The Hunger Games. Billy Ray is our sole credited writer, returning for the first time since The Hunger Games. While she does not have a named production role, it can be assumed that Suzanne Collins will have a strong presence behind the scenes, just as she has for all the previous films.
The castings for almost every named role were announced on social media throughout the summer. Our District 12 tributes are Joseph Zada as Haymitch, McKenna Grace as Maysilee, Ben Wang as Wyatt, Molly McCann as Louella, and Iona Bell as Lou Lou. Also featured are Whitney Peak as Lenore Dove, Ralph Fiennes as President Snow, Kelvin Harrison Jr. as Beetee, Maya Hawke as Wiress, Jesse Plemmons as Plutarch, Lili Taylor as Mags, Glenn Close as Drusilla, and Billy Porter as Magno. In smaller roles, we have Laura Marcus as Silka, Percy Daggs IV as Ampert, Rada Rae as Wellie, Scot Greenan as Burdock, Iris Apatow as Proserpina, and, much to the delight of fan casters, Elle Fanning as Effie and Kieran Culkin as Caesar. For the sake of this paragraph not taking up the entire article, I cannot list every single character – minor casting announcements can easily be found on all the official Hunger Games social media pages.
On May 23, the internet was taken by storm when the official casting team announced an open audition to be featured in the movie, and all you had to do was post a video of yourself demonstrating a special talent. Within hours, thousands of videos had already been submitted, though joke entries soon dominated the contest. Despite the entry period only lasting two weeks, a winner is yet to be announced.
Of course, no Sunrise on the Reaping cast discussion would be complete without acknowledging the rumor that Woody Harrelson, Jennifer Lawrence, and Josh Hutcherson will be returning. The trio played Haymitch, Katniss, and Peeta respectively in the original Hunger Games movies, and they have supposedly signed on for two days of filming in 2026. However, this remains unconfirmed, as they were not among the abundant casting announcements.
Principal filming is taking place in Spain and Germany. Somiedo Natural Park and Hayedo de Montegrande, along with a few other Spanish parks, were used from July to August to film the arena scenes. As of September 1, it seems that filming has moved to Germany, as several main cast members have been spotted there, though security around the set has been greatly tightened after leaks in Spain. Despite this, a clip was recently posted of what appears to be the Reaping Day scene. Casting calls were put out for extras in Berlin, Brandeberg, and North Rhine-Westphalia, the latter of which was previously used to film District 12 scenes for The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.
This leaves us where we are now: filming in progress, waiting for more news and an official trailer. While it’s still over a year until Sunrise on the Reaping makes its way to theaters, we can all enjoy the plethora of behind-the-scenes cast content until we finally sit down, dim the lights, and hear… “Happy birthday, Haymitch!”