Latest news with #Haymitch
Yahoo
7 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Elle Fanning Finally Reacted To 'Sunrise On The Reaping' Fans Calling For Her To Play Effie
The cast might be the best movie cast of 2026 — and it definitely proves that the Hunger Games team knows exactly what to look for when casting a role. Joseph Zada as Haymitch? Jesse Plemons as Plutarch? Ralph Fiennes as President Snow? I didn't think it could get much better than then it was announced that Elle Fanning is joining too. And OG Effie, Elizabeth Banks, just weighed in! Here's what Elle Fanning said about playing Effie Trinket in Sunrise on the Reaping. Who's playing Effie Trinket in Sunrise on the Reaping? Elle Fanning will step into the role of a young Effie Trinket (played by Elizabeth Banks in the original Hunger Games series), who serves as the District 12 stylist in the 50th Hunger Games. And Elle's convinced the fans had something to do with the role. 'I think fans made this happen in a way. [Lionsgate] said they were getting kind of hounded online, like, 'Elle needs to play Effie,'" Elle told MTV. "Effie has always been my favorite character. I think Elizabeth Banks, she to that character. I love her." "I'm super excited. I texted the producers as well, and I think she's perfect," Elizabeth Banks told at her The Better Sister premiere May 21. "I think everyone's really happy. And I'm really happy about that. I'm excited for the next generation to have their Effie." And the internet has gone crazy. "The most locked in casting director of recent memory," one X user , while another , "she's so perfect for the role." "if this is true then their casting is on point!" a third person . (It is true, and it is on point). But could we see Elizabeth Banks return, too? The actress told that she'd be open to returning — maybe in a Sunrise on the Reaping epilogue? "Yeah, of course, I love her," she says. "I would, if the fans want to." "I love Effie, it's one of my favorite characters," she continues. "She was not really in Mockingjay, so a lot of that came from the empathy that I got to bring to that character and the community I built with all of the collaborators on that film, including Suzanne Collins, and I think that Effie and Haymitch together became such a phenomenon that it's no surprise to me that Haymitch is getting a story now too." Who else do you want to see in the cast? Check out our with producer Nina Jacobson for more! This post has been updated. Solve the daily Crossword
Express Tribune
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Express Tribune
‘Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping' prequel casts Iris Apatow and Edvin Ryding in key roles
Lionsgate has announced major casting updates for The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping, with Iris Apatow and Edvin Ryding joining the anticipated prequel as new faces in the Capitol. The film, set for release in November 2026, centres on a young Haymitch Abernathy, years before he becomes Katniss Everdeen's drunken mentor and takes audiences back to the 50th Hunger Games. Apatow, known for her roles in The Bubble and Love, will portray Proserpina Trinket, a Capitol stylist who appears to share more than a surname with Effie. Edvin Ryding, best recognised for his breakout in Netflix's Young Royals, steps in as Vitus, Haymitch's image strategist during his time in the Games. Their characters form part of the prep team tasked with turning Haymitch into a presentable tribute for the deadly arena. Joining them are Jax Guerrero as Tibby and Sandra Förster as Hersilia, both playing original characters created for the film. Joseph Zada, already confirmed to play young Haymitch, leads the cast. Sunrise on the Reaping explores the events of the 50th Hunger Games, also known as the Second Quarter Quell, which forced each district to send double the usual number of tributes. The film promises a grittier look into how the Capitol manufactures spectacle and trauma. Fans can expect an origin story that delves into how Haymitch's cynicism and survival instincts were forged in blood and betrayal. With Lionsgate banking on a successful return to Panem after the modest success of The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, this cast announcement signals a bold move to blend rising Gen Z talent with an established franchise. As excitement builds, eyes now turn to how this new ensemble will reinvent a familiar dystopia for a new generation.
Time of India
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Time of India
The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping set to release in 2026; Date, full cast, plot & key details revealed
Lionsgate has officially announced that The Hunger Games : Sunrise on the Reaping , the latest prequel in the blockbuster dystopian franchise, will hit theaters worldwide on November 20, 2026, bringing audiences back to Panem for a deeper look at one of the series' most enigmatic characters: Haymitch Abernathy . Based on Suzanne Collins ' 2025 bestselling novel of the same name, the film chronicles the events of the 50th Hunger Games, also known as the Second Quarter Quell, and offers a gripping origin story of the man who would later mentor Katniss Everdeen. Explore courses from Top Institutes in Please select course: Select a Course Category others healthcare CXO Artificial Intelligence Cybersecurity MBA Data Science Degree Finance MCA Technology Healthcare Product Management Operations Management Others Public Policy Design Thinking PGDM Data Analytics Data Science Project Management Digital Marketing Leadership Management Skills you'll gain: Duration: 16 Weeks Indian School of Business CERT - ISB Cybersecurity for Leaders Program India Starts on undefined Get Details 'In Sunrise on the Reaping, Collins continues her exploration of propaganda and power, this time through the eyes of a 16-year-old Haymitch,' Lionsgate said in a statement earlier this week. 'It's a story of brutality, survival, and the cost of becoming a victor.' From page to screen, again Francis Lawrence , who directed Catching Fire and the Mockingjay films, returns to helm the prequel, while screenwriter Billy Ray adapts the script. The book, released in March 2025, topped bestseller charts in multiple countries and sold more than 1.5 million copies in its first week. Live Events Set 24 years before the original trilogy, the story follows Haymitch as he is reaped into a deadly arena that's twice the size of any previous Games. Collins has cited the 18th-century Scottish philosopher David Hume as inspiration, particularly his work on the 'fragility of trust in perceived reality during societal collapse.' A powerhouse ensemble cast Lionsgate has assembled an all-star cast for the film, with rising actor Joseph Zada portraying a young Haymitch. Whitney Peak, known for Gossip Girl, plays Lenore Dove, while McKenna Grace steps into the role of Maysilee Donner, a tribute fans will recognize from Haymitch's haunting recollections. Rounding out the cast: Ralph Fiennes as President Snow Jesse Plemons as Plutarch Heavensbee (taking over the role originated by Philip Seymour Hoffman) Elle Fanning as a young Effie Trinket Maya Hawke as Wiress Kelvin Harrison Jr. as Beetee Kieran Culkin as Caesar Flickerman Billy Porter as Gamemaker Magno Stift Glenn Close as Drusilla Sickle The challenge of casting without a script Casting the film posed a unique challenge. At the time casting began, neither the book nor the screenplay was available. 'We had to rely on character breakdowns and instinct,' casting director Debra Zane told Teen Vogue. 'It was unlike any project I've worked on.' Producer Nina Jacobson, who has overseen every film in the franchise, praised the final selections: 'Once the manuscript came in, everything clicked. These actors didn't just fit the characters visually, they became them.' The Hunger Games franchise has grossed more than $3 billion worldwide, and with Sunrise on the Reaping, Lionsgate appears poised to reignite the phenomenon for a new generation. 'It's not just a return to the arena,' Lawrence said in a recent interview. 'It's a return to the soul of Panem.'
Daily Mirror
02-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
New Hunger Games book is free in pre Prime Day deal
The internet goes into a frenzy every time a new cast member is announced and there's a way to find out about Haymitch's games, in Sunrise on the Reaping, for free Suzanne Collins' Sunrise on the Reaping was launched earlier this year and has brought the topic of the franchise back to centre stage online. The book follows Haymitch's game, the Second Quarter Quell, where twice as many tributes were reaped. While the book has been a smash hit, it's the franchise's Instagram account that's sending fans into a frenzy every time a new casting is announced. Joseph Zada, who is currently starring in Prime's We Were Liars, has taken on the role of Woody Harrelson's Haymitch Abernathy and there's been enough stars cast that fans online have been questioning the budget. While some characters, like Elle Fanning's Effie Trinket, Ralph Fiennes' President Snow and Kieran Culkin's Caesar Flickerman, are returning from the original trilogy, there are many who are new. Readers have been tight lipped on why there appear to be five tributes from District 12 with Wyatt, Maysilee, Haymitch, Louella and Lou Lou and why squirrels seem to be setting off the waterworks. For those who want to know what happen before the November 20, 2026 movie release date, there's actually away to get the entire book for free. Audible is offering a three month free trial where subscribers can listen to the latest Hunger Games book for free. There are other audiobook services on the model, Spotify gives their subscribers a set number of hours to read each month while BookBeat gives 20 hours for £6.99 a month. The book is also available to buy from retailers like Amazon and WH Smith. Our resident bookworm has listened to the Audible audiobook of the latest Suzanne Collins hit and said: "This is easily one of the best books of the year, Collins has knocked it out of the park again. I've read it twice, first as an audiobook where I got all the pronunciations down and again as a hardcover when all of the castings were announced. Although we know how his games end, I was on the edge of my seat the entire time. "The series was already brutal but Collins holds back nothing in this one. Every chapter is more harrowing than the last and months after first reading it, I still can't look at squirrels the same way. I anticipate the film will do an incredible job but for fans looking to avoid spoilers and to understand why it's sent the internet into a frenzy before next November I'd strongly recommend reading this one." The free trial comes with a total of three credits across three months, meaning that readers can snap up The Hunger Games and Catching Fire as well before paying for Mockingjay. There's an additional prequel with The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes also up for grabs. The book itself has a very strong 4.7 out of 60,401 reviews on Amazon. One reviewer said: "I couldn't put it down, it's an absolutely phenomenal work from Suzanne Collins; the symbolism is spectacular, the character voice is unbelievably clear - she's made Haymitch simultaneously stand out more than ever; while staying true to him as we saw in the trilogy and as a mirror of Katniss. "The themes and motifs are incredible - it's kept the mythological depth of the series going and brought its own themes to the table, to the point where it's in my opinion surpassed its predecessor books." However, a less impressed reader wrote: "I struggle to get into this. Song verses were overused, and it was so tragic, but I suppose it explains why Haymitch was as he is in the Mockingjay trilogy. It was also satisfying to get some backstory on other survivors. But it feels like something is missing, and the arena concept while fascinating, never really took off for me this time." Following the three month free trial it will cost subscribers £8.99 a month to maintain their Audible subscription, with there also being access to a Plus Catalogue giving readers the chance to read a massive range of books at no extra cost.
Yahoo
16-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Glenn Close and Billy Porter cast in 'The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping.' See who else will appear in the prequel.
Hunger Games fans are staying fed. This week, the dystopian film franchise began to announce the cast of the highly anticipated Sunrise on the Reaping, adapted from author Suzanne Collins's just-released novel of the same name. Though the film is set more than two decades before the original Hunger Games trilogy kicks off with Jennifer Lawrence's heroine, Katniss, a beloved character is back. Sunrise tells the story of a teenage Haymitch Abernathy, portrayed in the original franchise by Woody Harrelson, as he fights to survive his own Hunger Games — all while refusing to bend the knee to the ruthless Capitol, which this time around placed him and 47 other children in the deadly arena. The movie comes after the 2023 adaptation of The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, which starred Tom Blyth as a young will-be President Snow and Rachel Zegler as Lucy Gray Baird, a singer forced to compete in the Hunger Games. The Sunrise on the Reaping novel only hit bookshelves on March 18 — but fans have been itching to see who will star in the film. With the movie already slated to hit theaters on Nov. 20, 2026, here's who we know will appear thus far. Glenn Close is joining Sunrise on the Reaping as Drusilla Sickle, the cruel escort for the District 12 tributes. Close, an eight-time Oscar nominee, is known for her work in films like The Big Chill, Fatal Attraction and Dangerous Liaisons. On the small screen, she starred as ruthless lawyer Patty Hewes on the FX series Damages. Pose and American Horror Story star Billy Porter joins Sunrise on the Reaping as Drusilla's estranged husband, the District 12 designer Magno Stift. The Broadway alum previously appeared in movies like 2021's Cinderella and 80 for Brady. In Sunrise on the Reaping, Harrelson's gruff, ornery character is 16 and trying to survive a grueling life in Panem's District 12 when a series of shocking circumstances leads him to be called to the Hunger Games arena. (And on his birthday, no less!) But Haymitch won't go down without a fight, and while we may think we know how Haymitch's story ends, there's a lot to Sunrise on the Reaping that quietly sets up Katniss and company's future ability to take down corrupt President Snow once and for all. If you haven't heard Joseph Zada's name before, you will soon. The 20-year-old Australian actor is set to star in two much anticipated TV adaptations: Netflix's East of Eden, opposite Florence Pugh, and E. Lockhart's We Were Liars, dropping on Prime Video this summer. He also appeared in the Australian series Invisible Boys, which was released earlier this year. Lenore Dove is a member of the Covey, a group of traveling musicians and storytellers — just like Lucy Gray Baird was in The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. She's also Haymitch's longtime love. Whitney Peak is best known for her starring role in the Max Gossip Girl revival, as well as The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina and Hocus Pocus 2. She also appeared in Sabrina Carpenter's music video of 'Nonsense.' Maysilee Donner is a shopkeeper's daughter who becomes one of District 12's tributes in the supersize version of The Hunger Games alongside Haymitch. In the book it's also revealed that she is the original owner of Katniss's Mockingjay pin — something that is cut from the Hunger Games film franchise. She becomes one of Haymitch's trusted allies in the arena, despite the two getting off on the wrong foot. McKenna Grace is a singer and actress who played a young Tonya Harding in I, Tonya. She appeared in TV roles including The Haunting of Hill House and Designated Survivor before starring in the rebooted Ghostbusters: Afterlife franchise and The Handmaid's Tale, where she was nominated for an Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series Emmy in 2021. She's also slated to star in the upcoming Colleen Hoover adaptation Regretting You. Fans of the original Hunger Games trilogy will recognize Plutarch Heavensbee as the Head Gamemaker for the 75th annual Hunger Games, when Katniss and Josh Hutcherson's Peeta compete for a second time. In Sunrise on the Reaping, Plutarch is a wealthy Capitol-born cameraman working his way up the ladder of the Hunger Games while also secretly conspiring against Snow. Plemons's breakout role came in the television series Friday Night Lights, where he portrayed Landry. Since then the prolific actor has appeared on shows like Breaking Bad, Fargo and Black Mirror. One of Plemons's first major film roles was in 2012's The Master, where he acted alongside Philip Seymour Hoffman, the actor who played an older version of Plutarch in the original film franchise. Since then he has appeared in movies like The Post, The Irishman, The Power of the Dog, Game Night and Killers of the Flower Moon. This year, Plemons returned to Black Mirror for the sequel to the 2017 episode "U.S.S. Callister." Kelvin Harrison Jr. is taking on the role of the brainy Beetee, a survivor of the Hunger Games who first appeared in Catching Fire and was originally portrayed onscreen by Jeffrey Wright. Harrison previously starred as the titular character in the 2019 drama Luce, opposite Naomi Watts and Octavia Spencer and has since appeared in films such as The Trial of the Chicago 7, Cyrano, Elvis and Chevalier, where he starred as French Caribbean musician Joseph Bologne. The actor is no stranger to prequels: He recently voiced Taka, aka young Scar, in Mufasa. Lili Taylor is playing Mags Flanagan, another victor of the Hunger Games tasked with helping Haymitch. The actress is known for films like Mystic Pizza, Short Cuts, The Addiction, Girls Town and I Shot Andy Warhol, for which she received critical acclaim for her role as radical feminist Valerie Solanas. She is slated to appear in Netflix's upcoming Fear Street: Prom Queen. Maya Hawke is set to portray Wiress, an eccentric, tech-skilled Hunger Games victor originally portrayed by Amanda Plummer in Catching Fire. The actress, who is the daughter of Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman, stars on Netflix's Stranger Things and has appeared in films like Once Upon a Time ... in Hollywood, Asteroid City and Do Revenge. She is making her off-Broadway debut this month in the play Eurydice. Ben Wang is slated to portray Wyatt, the other male tribute from District 12 who joins Haymitch in the Hunger Games arena. Wang previously starred on the Disney+ series American Born Chinese and can next be seen Karate Kid: Legends, which is out May 30. He also has a role in The Long Walk, a Stephen King adaptation, which is headed to theaters on Sept. 12. Ralph Fiennes will be the third actor to portray President Coriolanus Snow, following in the footsteps of the late Donald Sutherland in the initial Hunger Games trilogy and Tom Blyth in the prequel The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. A prolific stage and screen star who has appeared in films like Schindler's List, The English Patient and The Grand Budapest Hotel, Fiennes is no stranger to playing the villain in a popular book-to-screen franchise: He portrayed evil wizard Voldemort in the Harry Potter franchise. Elle Fanning was a fan favorite to play young Capitol stylist Effie Trinket, a role originated by Elizabeth Banks in the original Hunger Games trilogy. Fanning, a onetime child star, made her film debut in I Am Sam, where she portrayed a younger version of her sister Dakota Fanning's character. Since then, the prolific actress has starred in films like Super 8, Maleficent, The Beguiled, A Rainy Day in New York and All the Bright Places. On the TV side, she starred in the historical comedy The Great, as well as the true crime adaptation The Girl from Plainville. English actress Iona Bell joins the cast as Lou Lou, who gets wrapped up in the Hunger Games because of a Capitol scheme that would definitely be a spoiler to reveal. She has previously appeared in the short film Pulp by Rind and has several films in various stages of production, according to her IMDb. Irish actress Molly McCann, who plays District 12 resident Louella, previously appeared in the television series Bad Sisters, as well as The Hardacres, The Holiday and The Vanishing Triangle. Fresh off winning his first Academy Award earlier this year, for his role in A Real Pain, Kieran Culkin will soon take on the role of Caesar Flickerman — the host of the Hunger Games, originally portrayed by Stanley Tucci — in Sunrise on the Reaping. Culkin, brother of Home Alone star Macaulay Culkin and actor Rory Culkin, is known for films like The Cider House Rules, Igby Goes Down and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. He portrayed Roman Roy on HBO's hit series Succession from 2018 to 2023, for which he won an Emmy. This article was originally published on April 25, 2025, and has since been updated.
