Sunrise on the Reaping Finds Its Young Beetee Latier

The reaping continues—or rather, the casting continues. Lionsgate has cast Kelvin Harrison Jr. as Beetee Latier in the upcoming Hunger Games prequel, The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping. 

Sunrise on the Reaping is the second prequel novel by New York Times bestselling author Suzanne Collins, the mind behind The Ballad of Songbird and Snakes. 

Set 24 years before The Hunger Games trilogy, Sunrise on the Reaping follows a 16-year-old Haymitch Abernathy when he is reaped, along with three other kids from District 12, to fight for their lives in the fiftieth Hunger Games and the second Quarter Quell. 

Kelvin Harrison Jr. will be a young Beetee Latier, a District 3 victor of the thirty-fourth Hunger Games. He is forced to serve as a mentor for the Quarter Quell, while his son, Ampart, is reaped as punishment for Beetee’s rebellious behavior. 

Beetee was reaped in the third Quarter Quell and was an ally to Katniss Everdeen during the events of Catching Fire and Mockingjay. Jeffery Wright portrayed the older version of Beetee in the original film trilogy. 

Harrison Jr. comes fresh off his role as Scar/Taka in Mufasa: The Lion King. His other credits include Elvis, Trial of the Chicago 7, Cyrano, Waves, The Birth of a Nation, and Assassination Nation. 

Casting news began with Joseph Zada (We Were Liars) as Haymitch Abernathy and Whitney Peak (Gossip Girl) as his girlfriend, Lenore Dove Baird. 

Also from District 12 is McKenna Grace (Captain Marvel, Gifted) as Maysilee Donner, who will also be reaped from the Quarter Quell. 

Beetee and Haymitch will not be the only two characters from the original trilogy returning for Sunrise on the Reaping. Jesse Plemons (Friday Night Lights, Killers of the Flower Moon, Kinds of Kindness) will be Plutarch Heavensbee from the Capitol, originated for the screen by Philip Seymour Hoffman. 

In the original trilogy, Heavensbee served as the Head Gamemaster for the Hunger Games in Catching Fire and as a double agent for the rebellion. However, at the time of Sunrise on the Reaping, Hevenbee is a lackey for the games and one of the few allies Haymitch has in the Capitol.

The Hunger Games: Sunrise in the Reaping will be directed by Francis Lawrence, and Billy Ray will write the screenplay.

The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping will be in theaters on November 20, 2026.

In the meantime, you can purchase your copy of the book here.