Certain movie series have a way of instantly catching fans’ attention, be it new announcements for upcoming entries in Star Wars, Harry Potter, The Lord of the Rings or The Hunger Games.
With the latter series, new casting announcements for the upcoming prequel, The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping, have left fans jumping for joy — or, in more apt Hunger Games terms, nearly ready to catch fire.
Above all else, fans have been reeling from the news that Ralph Fiennes, the award-winning actor behind such films as Schindler’s List, The English Patient, The Grand Budapest Hotel and Harry Potter, has been cast as the film’s main antagonist, President Coriolanus Snow.
An overarching character in every major Hunger Games book and its subsequent adaptation, Snow had previously been portrayed by the late Donald Sutherland in the original four films. Younger versions of the character later appeared in The Hunger Games’ prequel, The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, as portrayed by Dexter Sol Ansell and Tom Blyth.
Numerous other casting announcements for the film have similarly left fans screaming aloud in excitement, with many of the movie’s recently announced actors set to portray younger versions of The Hunger Games’ most prominent characters.
Kelvin Harrison Jr., of Waves‘ fame, will portray Beetee Latier (previously played by Jeffrey Wright); Stranger Things’ Maya Hawke will take over Amanda Plummer’s role as Wiress; Breaking Bad’s Jesse Plemons will portray a younger version of Philip Seymour Hoffman’s Plutarch Heavensbee; and Joseph Zada will portray Woody Harrelson’s traumatized Hunger Games survivor, Haymitch Abernathy.
Directed by original Hunger Games director Francis Lawrence, Sunrise on the Reaping will follow a 16-year-old Haymitch Abernathy during his participation in the 50th annual Hunger Games. Set 24 years before the events of The Hunger Games, the project is expected to begin filming in July 2025, with a tentative release date of November 20, 2026.
