The Hunger Games: Sunrise On The Reaping Casts Kieran Culkin as Caesar Flickerman

The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping has found its host! Oscar and Emmy winner Kieran Culkin joins an impressive cast.

Oscar and Emmy winner Kieran Culkin joins The Hunger Games: Sunrise On The Reaping as the Hunger Games host Caesar Flickerman. The character was played by Stanley Tucci in the original films.

Culkin is known for his roles in Succession and A Real Pain. He is represented by WME, Brookside Artist Management, and Relevant. He joins previously announced cast members Joseph Zada as Haymitch Abernathy, Whitney Peak as Lenore Dove Baird, Mckenna Grace as Maysilee Donner, Jesse Plemons as Plutarch Heavensbee, Maya Hawke as Wiress, Kelvin Harrison Jr. as Beetee, Lili Taylor as Mags, Ben Wang as Wyatt, Elle Fanning as Effie Trinket and Ralph Fiennes as President Snow.

KIERAN CULKIN

“Kieran’s magnetism, wit, and unpredictability make him a perfect fit for Caesar Flickerman,” casting director Nina Jacobson said. “A host like Caesar transforms brutality into entertainment, and an actor as layered as Kieran makes sure we don’t look away.”

The Lionsgate film is based on Suzanne Collins’s bestselling novel, which was published on March 18 and received wide acclaim. The book sold 1.5 million copies in its first week in the U.S., UK, Ireland, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. The 1.2 million copies sold in its first week in the U.S. are twice the first-week sales of The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes and three times the sales of Mockingjay.

STORY

The story takes place 40 years after the prequel, The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, which focused on a young Coriolanus Snow and 24 years before the original tale led by Katniss Everdeen. The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping is set for a November 20, 2026, release in cinemas. This new prequel tells the events of the second Quarter Quell (the fiftieth Hunger Games) in which fan favourite character Haymitch Abernathy is the lead.

DIRECTION

Francis Lawrence, who directed all the films from the franchise except the first one, is again back in the director’s chair. Billy Ray, who co-wrote the screenplay for the first film, is also back. Color Force’s Nina Jacobson and Brad Simpson produce, and Cameron MacConomy serves as an executive producer.

Stay tuned for more casting news and announcements as filming for The Hunger Games: Sunrise On The Reaping gets closer.