Images by Bryan Berlin and Harald Krichel from Wikimedia. Book image from Scholastic press release
Speculation has begun about the casting announcements being made for the new Hunger Games film and fans are taking to TikTok to share their opinions on the actors and who is coming next.
With filming for the new movie adaptation of Hunger Games Sunrise on the Reaping, set to begin in July, the casting is being announced on social media. This has caused fans to eagerly await and speculate who will be in the film that is coming out in November 2026. The dramatic announcements started four weeks ago when an actor was announced every day for four days, before going radio silent on day five for three weeks. This led fans to speculate if there was method to the madness and if it was a pattern. The latest actor to be announced was Kieran Culkin, as Caesar Flickerman. Here is what we know so far.
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The first announcement was made on the 23rd of April and revealed Whitney Peak was playing Lenore Dove Baird, followed by Joseph Zada as Haymitch Abernathy, Mckenna Grace as Maysilee Donner and Jesse Plemons as Plutarch Heavensbe. This led fans to believe they were announcing one actor everyday at 6pm, but when the next day arrived with no new post people were left confused.
A theory started going around Tiktok with popular influencers like @ieucooke thinking they were announcing the cast in groups of four, the same amount of tributes from each district in the new book. This was later reinforced when it was announced three weeks later that Kelvin Harrison Jr. was playing Beetee Latier and fans realised that the amount of time that passed was the same as how long Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mallark spent in the 74th Hunger Games.
However, this theory was disproven when The Hunger Games continued to announce seven more actors at different times and some within the same day. This included; Maya Hawke as Wiress, Lili Taylor as Mags Flanagan, Ben Wang as Wyatt Callow, Molly McCann as Louella McCoy and Iona Bell as Lou Lo.
Two of the most awaited characters were also announced gathering millions of views online after fans were eager to learn who would be playing their favourite character. President Snow, who was originally brought to life by Donald Sutherland, was the focus of the prequal, played by Tom Blyth. The film allowed audiences to learn how he rose to power and aided in the Hunger Games creation, making his villainy in the original films even stronger. It was announced that Ralph Fiennes, famously known for his role as Voldemort, would be playing President Snow.
The second long awaited casting was Effie Trinket, the mentor of Katniss and Peeta. Originally her role in the book was not as large, but after Elizabeth Banks acting in the first two films the characters storyline was changed. Fans had been hoping that the Maleficent star Elle Fanning would be offered the role, which to their amazement she was.
It has not all been positive news, as fans have criticised the casting directors of whitewashing Louella and Lou Lou, as well as reinforcing negative stereotypes of Asian people within films by casting Ben Wang as Wyatt. Wyatt is one of District 12’s tributes and an oddsmaker. His family run bets and predictions on the outcomes to the games and it is shown that his character is exceptionally good with odds, number and maths.
Due to the casting choice being criticised as well as Louella and Lou Lou, fans theorised that any announcement patterns the social media team were making, were scrapped and Effie was revealed to take away attention and please fans.
Whilst we do not know the truth of the methods, it could be said that there is not a pattern and actors may be being released when the contracts are signed. What do you think?
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