The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping Finds its Leads in Joseph Zada and Whitney Peak
In a significant development for fans of The Hunger Games franchise, Lionsgate has announced that Joseph Zada and Whitney Peak have been cast as the lead characters in the upcoming film, The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping. According to a report from Variety, Zada will play Haymitch Abernathy, the District 12 tribute, while Peak will portray his girlfriend, Lenore Dove Baird.
The film, based on the bestselling novel of the same name by Suzanne Collins, is set 40 years after the events of the prequel, The Ballads of Songbirds & Snakes, and 24 years before Katniss Everdeen’s time in the arena. As reported by Variety, Sunrise on the Reaping will be released on November 20, 2026, and will be directed by Francis Lawrence, who has helmed every installment of the franchise since 2012’s Catching Fire.
Variety reports that the film’s screenplay will be adapted by Billy Ray, with Color Force’s Nina Jacobson and Brad Simpson producing, and Cameron MacConomy executive producing. The story takes place on the morning of the reaping of the 50th Hunger Games, also known as the Second Quarter Quell, revisiting the world of Panem 24 years before the events of The Hunger Games.
Joseph Zada, who will next be seen in the Prime Video series We Were Liars, which premieres this June, has also completed production for Netflix’s East of Eden, in which he stars alongside Florence Pugh and Martha Plimpton. As noted by Variety, Zada currently stars in the lead role of Charlie in the upcoming Stan Australia Original Series Invisible Boys, based on the bestselling novel by Holden Sheppard.
Whitney Peak, who will next be seen as the lead in Sony Pictures’ upcoming shark thriller Shiver opposite Phoebe Dynevor, will also star alongside Liam Neeson and Teresa Palmer in 4 Kids Walk into a Bank for Amazon MGM’s Orion label. According to Variety, Peak is best known for her starring role on Max’s reboot of Gossip Girl, playing Zoya Lott, and has also appeared in Hocus Pocus 2 opposite Bette Midler and Sarah Jessica Parker.
" The Hunger Games franchise has long been a launching pad for remarkable young actors, and Jo and Whitney carry that legacy forward with incredible heart, depth, and fire," said Lionsgate Motion Picture Group co-president Erin Westerman, as quoted in Variety. "After auditioning hundreds of gifted performers from around the world, these two stood out—not just for their talent, but for the emotional truth they brought to these iconic roles."
Nina Jacobson, who spoke to Variety earlier this year, opened up about the unique challenge of casting a young Haymitch, portrayed by Woody Harrelson in the original four films. "Nobody can be Woody Harrelson but Woody Harrelson," she said. "But you have to find that mischief that he has in him inherently and try to understand, if you turn back time from the man you meet at the beginning of The Hunger Games, who he was before all of that, and why he became that."
The Hunger Games franchise has been a massive success, with the five films taking in over $3.3 billion at the box office and attracting acclaimed talent including Viola Davis, Julianne Moore, and Donald Sutherland. Variety reports that Sunrise on the Reaping sold 1.5 million copies in its first week on sale in the U.S., U.K., Ireland, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, with 1.2 million copies sold in the U.S. alone, twice the first-week sales of The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, and three times the first-week sales of original trilogy-ender Mockingjay.
As reported by Variety, Meredith Wieck and Scott O’Brien are overseeing the project for Lionsgate, with Robert Melnik negotiating the deals for the studio. Zada is represented by CAA, Untitled Entertainment, RGM, and Goodman, Genow, Schenkman, Smelkinson & Christopher, while Peak is repped by CAA, Canopy Media Partners, Play Management, The Initiative Group, and Jackoway Austen Tyerman Wertheimer Mandelbaum Morris Bernstein Trattner Auerbach Hynick Jaime LeVine Sample & Klein.
