Summary
The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reapinghas just reaped two fresh cast members. The adaptation of Suzanne Collins’ second prequel novel to theHunger Gamestrilogy has been making exciting casting announcements as it brings back younger versions of familiar characters from the books. And it looks like they’ve found their young Wiress and Beetee.
Set in Panem, 24 years before the events ofThe Hunger Games,Sunrise on the Reapingbegins on the morning of a reaping and tells the story of a young Haymitch Abernathy when he is picked as a District 12 tribute in the 50th Hunger Games. In the course of the Games, he crosses paths with victors Wiress and Beetee as they turn mentors for the Second Quarter Quell.
As reported byDeadline, Maya Hawke ofStranger Thingswill play Wiress, a role reprised by Amanda Plummer in The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. AndMufasa: The Lion Kingactor Kelvin Harrison Jr. will play Beetee Latier, played by Jeffrey Wright inCatching FireandMockingjay Parts 1 and 2. Hawke and Harrison Jr. join a cast that includes Joseph Zada as Haymitch Abernathy (played by Woody Harrelson in the original films), Whitney Peak as Lenore Dove Baird, McKenna Grace as Maysilee Donner, andJesse Plemons as Plutarch Heavensbee(played in the trilogy by Philip Seymour Hoffman).
Fans will remember these characters fromCatching Fire, when the 75th Hunger Games are designated as the Third Quarter Quell. As victors, Katniss and Peeta (with the latter taking their mentor Haymitch’s place) are reaped again as tributes. They are joined by other victors, including District 3’s Wiress and Beetee. While Beetee is a tech genius, the other tributes call Wiress “Nuts” because of her neurotic behavior, a result of the trauma she suffered during the events of the Second Quarter Quell.
InSunrise on the Reaping, Wiress is different from the womanKatniss and Peetameet inCatching Fire. She is a smart woman, and as victor of the 49th Hunger Games, assigned to mentor the tributes of District 12, including 16-year-old Haymitch, since Lucy Baird’s disappearance leaves them with no victors of their own to mentor them. Fans will finally find out what happened during these Games that wrecked her.
For Beetee, the disaster has already struck. As a victor of the 34th Hunger Games, he has to mentor his son Ampert Latier, who has been reaped as a tributefor the Quarter Quellto punish Beetee for his actions, of course, orchestrated by Coriolanus Snow. The film will reveal the backstory of how and when Beteee joined the revolution.
Published on March 18 this year,The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reapingis the fifth book in the series, the second prequel afterThe Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, and the sixth film in the franchise. Filmmaker Francis Lawrence, who has directed each one of them since Catching Fire, returns to direct this one from a screenplay adapted by Billy Ray.The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reapingis slated to release on June 08, 2025.
