Los Angeles, April 25, 2025 — The Panem rumor mill has finally quieted. Lionsgate has locked in its first trio of tributes for "The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping," the latest cinematic dive into Suzanne Collins’ brutal dystopia, set to hit theaters November 20, 2026. The studio’s casting net, cast wide and deep, has hauled in fresh faces to embody the bloody legacy of the 50th Hunger Games, the Second Quarter Quell, where Haymitch Abernathy first outsmarted the Capitol’s cruelest game.
Joseph Zada, a 20-year-old newcomer, steps into the boots of young Haymitch Abernathy, the cunning District 12 tribute who outwitted 47 others in a double-sized arena. Zada, soon to appear in Prime Video’s "We Were Liars," was announced as the lead on April 23 via Lionsgate’s official Hunger Games social channels. He’s tasked with channeling the raw defiance of a teenage Haymitch, years before Woody Harrelson’s grizzled, liquor-soaked mentor graced the original films.
Joining him is Whitney Peak, 22, cast as Lenore Dove Baird, Haymitch’s girlfriend and a Covey descendant tied to the musical roots of "The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes." Peak, known for her roles in the "Gossip Girl" reboot and "Hocus Pocus 2," brings a grounded intensity to Lenore, a character woven into the novel’s emotional stakes. Her casting dropped alongside Zada’s, cementing the pair as the heart of this prequel’s story.
Rounding out the early lineup is McKenna Grace, tapped on April 24 to play Maysilee Donner, another District 12 tribute and the original owner of Katniss Everdeen’s iconic Mockingjay pin. Grace, a familiar face from "Gifted" and "Ghostbusters: Afterlife," joins the fray as a shopkeeper’s daughter thrust into the Quell’s carnage. Her role, though smaller, carries weight for fans who know Maysilee’s fate from Collins’ March 18, 2025, novel.
The film, greenlit before the book even hit shelves, revisits Panem 24 years before Katniss volunteered. It’s a grim snapshot of the 50th Hunger Games, where 48 tributes—twice the usual number—faced off in a Capitol-engineered slaughter. Francis Lawrence, the franchise’s steady hand since "Catching Fire," returns to direct, working from a script by Billy Ray, who penned the 2012 original. Nina Jacobson and Brad Simpson, veterans of every Hunger Games film, are producing.
Filming kicks off this summer, with locations slated for Germany. The novel, a bestseller with 1.5 million copies sold in its first week across the U.S., U.K., Ireland, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, has fueled hype for a faithful adaptation. No other casting has been confirmed, though Lionsgate’s track record suggests more names will trickle out soon.
Zada, Peak, and Grace are the first to step into the arena. They’ve got big shoes to fill, and the Capitol’s watching.