(Left) Elle Fanning at the Disney presentation at CinemaCon 2025 in Las Vegas.Photo: Disney. (Right) ‘The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping’ is scheduled for release on November 20, 2026. Photo: Lionsgate.
Preview:
- Elle Fanning is among the rumored cast for ‘The Hunger Games: Sunshine on the Reaping.’
- ‘The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes’ director Francis Lawrence is aboard the movie.
- It’s set 24 years before Katniss enters the arena.
We’ve known for a few months now that Lionsgate quickly snapped up the rights to adapt Suzanne Collins’ latest ‘Hunger Games’ prequel, ‘Sunshine on the Reaping.’
In the time since the book and movie were announced, things have moved on considerably –– Billy Ray has written the adaptation and regular ‘Hunger Games’ director Francis Lawrence (who also made the previous prequel, ‘The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes’) confirmed he will handle this next outing.
With production gearing up for this July in Germany, we’ve reached the casting stage and the rumors have begun to swirl.
Nexus Point News, which has been on top of a couple of scoops about possible actors, brings word that Elle Fanning has been offered the role of a younger Effie Trinket.
Effie, of course, is the effusive stylist as portrayed by Elizabeth Banks in the original ‘Hunger Games’ movies.
What’s the story of ‘The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping’?
‘The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping’ opens in theaters on November 20, 2026.
While the previous prequel took place 64 years before the events of the original trilogy, ‘The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping’ is set 24 years before that trio of Jennifer Lawrence films in the world of Panem, commencing on the morning of the reaping of the 50th Hunger Games, also known as the Second Quarter Quell.
Those games are an important event in the canon as the victor was Haymitch Abernathy, the only winner from District 12 before Lawrence’ Katniss Everdeen and Josh Hutcherson’s Peeta Mellark’s tie win. Haymitch continues on to become a mentor, a character in the original movies played by Woody Harrelson.
For ‘Sunshine on the Reaping,’ Effie serves as a stylist for the District 12 tributes in order to assist her sister, Proserpina. Although she supports the Hunger Games in principle, Effie shows genuine compassion for the tributes and treats them with kindness and care.
Who else has been rumored for ‘The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping’?
Kieran Culkin accepts the Oscar® for Actor in a Supporting Role during the live ABC Telecast of the 97th Oscars® at the Dolby® Theatre at Ovation Hollywood on Sunday, March 2, 2025.
Nexus Point news was also behind the story that Charlie Plummer is the filmmaker’s likely top candidate to play the younger Haymitch.
Plummer, who has appeared in the likes of 2019 miniseries ‘Looking for Alaska,’ has also been seen in last year’s ‘The Return’ and 2022’s ‘Moonfall.’
Perhaps most tellingly, he’s one of the leads of Francis Lawrence’s next film to be released, the Stephen King adaptation ‘The Long Walk,’ due in theaters on September 12th and hyped at the company’s recent CinemaCon presentation.
Ralph Fiennes arrives on the red carpet of the 97th Oscars® at the Dolby® Theatre at Ovation Hollywood on Sunday, March 2, 2025. Credit/Provider: Etienne Laurent / The Academy. Copyright: ©A.M.P.A.S.
And talking of ‘The Return,’ regular scooper Daniel Richtman has reported that that film’s star, Ralph Fiennes, is also being courted for the movie, this time to play Coriolanus Snow, as brought to screens by Donald Sutherland in the original films and Tom Blyth in ‘Songbirds and Snakes.’
It would mark the latest big book-based franchise that Fiennes could be joining after a slightly successful series of movies about a certain boy wizard.
And he’s not all –– Richtman also brings word that recent Oscar winner Kieran Culkin is mulling an offer to play Caesar Flickerman (the eccentric host character played in the first film series by Stanley Tucci.)
‘Hunger Games’ doesn’t scream the sort of movie that Culkin usually appears in, but Oscar wins sometimes lead to interesting choices.
‘The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping’: Collins and the Filmmakers Talk
Director Francis Lawrence in ‘The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.’ Photo Credit: Murray Close.
Here’s Suzanne Collins’ statement on the new book and movie:
“With ‘Sunrise on the Reaping’, I was inspired by David Hume’s idea of implicit submission and, in his words, ‘the easiness with which the many are governed by the few… The story also lent itself to a deeper dive into the use of propaganda and the power of those who control the narrative. The question ‘Real or not real?’ seems more pressing to me every day. From the beginning, Lionsgate has been a wonderful home and partner for the ‘Hunger Games’ franchise, and I’m very excited to be collaborating with Adam and the team as we bring this next story to theaters in 2026.”
And here’s Lionsgate Motion Picture Group Chair Adam Fogelson:
“Suzanne Collins is a master storyteller and our creative north star. We couldn’t be more fortunate than to be guided and trusted by a collaborator whose talent and imagination are so consistently brilliant. We know ‘Hunger Games’ fans worldwide will be spellbound by where Suzanne has focused this next extraordinary story. The Second Quarter Quell is legendary and looms large over the history of the Games, even into the time of Katniss Everdeen a quarter-century later. Like fans around the globe, we are eagerly anticipating this exciting return to Panem.”
When will ‘The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping’ be in theaters?
Lionsgate already has a release date in place for this one: the studio wants the new movie in theaters on November 20th, 2026.
‘The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping’ is scheduled for release on November 20, 2026. Photo: Lionsgate.