The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping has found its Haymitch Abernathy and his girlfriend Lenore Dove Baird. Actors Joseph Zada and Whitney Peak will play the characters respectively in the upcoming prequel to the original trilogy that takes place 40 years after the events of the most recent tale, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (2023).
Set 24 years before the events of The Hunger Games during the Second Quarter Quell (50th Hunger Games), it will centre on a 12-year-old Haymitch Abernathy, portrayed by Woody Harrelson in the original Hunger Games movies and how he competes in the games with 48 children as tributes.
Francis Lawrence, who has helmed every Hunger Games installment since 2012’s Catching Fire, is directing this upcoming film. Billy Ray, who has co-written the original trilogy, is writing the screenplay for the film. Earlier, it was reported that Elle Fanning, best known for playing Princess Aurora in the Maleficent films, is being eyed to play a young Effie Trinket in the film. Her casting among other characters are yet to be revealed by the makers.
Sunrise on the Reaping, which was published by Collins in March, is being bankrolled by Color Force’s Nina Jacobson and Brad Simpson. Cameron MacConomy is the executive producer. It is slated for a November 20, 2026 release.
Zada is currently in the spotlight as the lead character, Charlie, in Invisible Boys, a Stan Australia Original Series adapted from Holden Sheppard’s bestselling novel. Coming up, he will appear in Prime Video’s We Were Liars. He also recently wrapped filming on Netflix’s East of Eden.
Widely recognized for her roles in Max’s Gossip Girl reboot and Hocus Pocus 2, Peak is set to take the spotlight in Sony’s upcoming shark thriller Shiver, where she stars opposite Phoebe Dynevor. She’ll also appear alongside Liam Neeson and Teresa Palmer in 4 Kids Walk into a Bank.