Turns out Lionsgate was not done announcing new cast members for The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping. Hours after revealing Maya Hawke and Kelvin Harrison Jr. will star as Wiress and Beetee, Deadline has revealed that Lili Taylor (Outer Range) will play the fan-favourite victor and mentor Mags.
Introduced in Catching Fire, Mags is the oldest victor after winning the 11th Hunger Games for District 4. Known for her compassion, she served as a mother-figure to fellow District 4 victors Finnick Odair and Annie Cresta as well as their mentor. She became a mute, but this and her age did not make her any less capable as she became an essential part of the growing rebel movement against President Snow and the plot to save Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark. She was played in the film by Lynn Cohen.
Released in March by Suzanne Collins, Sunrise on the Reaping takes fans back to the 50th anniversary of the Hunger Games, otherwise known as the Second Quarter Quell, where fan-favourite Haymitch Abernathy was reaped as one of District 12’s four tributes to compete in the game and won, eventually going on to mentor Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark nearly 25 years later in their own Games.
The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping stars Joseph Zada (Invisible Boys) as Haymitch Abernathy, Whitney Peak (Hocus Pocus 2) as Lenore Dove Baird, McKenna Grace (Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire) as Maysilee Donner, Jesse Plemons as Plutarch Heavensbee, Kelvin Harrison Jr. as Beetee, Maya Hawke as Wiress and Lili Taylor as Mags.
Francis Lawrence returns to the director’s chair for Sunrise on the Reaping after directing every Hunger Games film since Catching Fire, while original Hunger Games screenwriter Billy Ray pens the script.
The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping will be released on November 20th, 2026.
Ricky Church – Follow me on Bluesky for more movie news and nerd talk.
