Sunrise on the Reaping only hit bookshelves on March 18, but the movie adaptation of the Hunger Games prequel is already in the works.
Producer Nina Jacobson, who also produced the original four films as well as 2023 prequel The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, said casting for Haymitch Abernathy can finally get underway now that Suzanne Collins’ book is out. She acknowledged the “interesting challenge” of casting someone to play the 16-year-old version of the character Woody Harrelson portrayed in four films released between 2012 and 2015.
“I think that what we’re looking for in that role is, you don’t want somebody who’s impersonating Woody,” Jacobson told Variety earlier this month. “But you want somebody who very credibly feels like they could be a young version of this character, before the trauma and grief and rage that the fallout of the Games create.”
The book follows Haymitch as he wins the 50th annual Hunger Games — which is the reason he is introduced to Katniss and Peeta as a mentor in the first film. He makes it clear that surviving the Games isn’t a cake walk, but the functioning alcoholic manages to do his best to provide for the District 12 tributes.
Jacobson added, “Nobody can be Woody Harrelson but Woody Harrelson. 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.”
She added that Collins’ story is “still really rooted in incredible character trauma,” so the lucky actor who is cast as Haymitch will have plenty of layers to uncover. “One of the things that’s so unusual about this is that very rarely does a franchise give an actor a chance to really show their chops and the range that they have, but these roles do,” the producer shared.
Sunrise on the Reaping is due in theaters in November 2026, and Us Weekly’s top choices to play young Haymitch are below:
1. Rudy Pankow
Some people will scoff at anyone who got their start on teen dramas, but let’s be clear: that’s where young dramatic actors thrive. (See five-time Oscar nomineee Michelle Williams on Dawson’s Creek, Oscar nominee Austin Butler on The Carrie Diaries and Emmy winner Alexis Bledel on Gilmore Girls.) After four seasons as JJ on Outer Banks, Pankow has proven that he has the depth and emotional range required to play the tragedy of a Hunger Games victor.
2. Walker Scobell
Haymitch is supposed to be 16, so why not cast a real teenager? The Percy Jackson and the Olympians star is 16 in real life and can clearly handle the pressure of a beloved book adaptation.
3. Louis Hofmann
Honestly, Us would cast Hofmann based on his uncanny resemblance to Harrelson alone. However, Hofmann has also proven himself a talented dramatic actor in Netflix’s Dark and All the Light We Cannot See.
4. Alex Neustaedter
He played a young Brandon Sklenar in It Ends With Us, so he has already used an actor’s performance for inspiration to play a teenage version. Plus, Neustaedter showed his vulnerable side, which is essential for anyone playing a Hunger Games competitor — because there’s nowhere kids are more vulnerable than in the arena.
5. Noah LaLonde
Remember what we said about stars cutting their teeth on teen dramas? LaLonde has certainly made Us swoon on My Life With the Walter Boys, and Sunrise on the Reaping might be the perfect chance for him to play a darker character arc.
6. Cooper van Grootel
He played the sensitive bad boy so well on One of Us Is Lying, which was tragically canceled after just two seasons. Van Grootel’s story line dealt with topics like trauma, violence and depression, so he’s very much prepared for the heavy aspects of Haymitch’s story — and Us misses seeing him on our screen regularly.
