Cast attend London premiere of The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping

Mixed · 2The cast of The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping attended the film's UK premiere at Westfield shopping centre in London on Wednesday 28 October 2026. 1 2 Mixed · 2The film, a prequel based on Suzanne Collins' novel and directed by Francis Lawrence, opens in cinemas on 20 November. 1 2 Mixed · 2Both outlets report that Elle Fanning, who plays Effie Trinket, wore a Robert Wun dress with an elaborate hat, and that Glenn Close, who plays Drusilla Sickle, wore green. 1 2

Right · 1The Daily Mail said Close, 79, arrived using a cane after a recent hip replacement, and listed guests including Rod Stewart, Penny Lancaster, Kelly Rutherford, Lottie Moss and Love Island's Tasha Ghouri. 1 Mixed · 2Other cast named include Kieran Culkin as a young Caesar Flickerman (played by Stanley Tucci in the earlier films), Ralph Fiennes as President Snow, Joseph Zada as Haymitch, Mckenna Grace as Maysilee Donner, Jesse Plemons as Plutarch Heavensbee and Whitney Peak as Lenore Dove. 2 1 Left · 1The Hollywood Reporter described a Capitol-themed event with a cornucopia, a purple carpet and tapestries of Fiennes as Snow reading "Panem's No. 1 Peacekeeper". It said Jennifer Lawrence, who has said on Call Her Daddy that she reunited with two co-stars on the film, did not appear. 2

Left · 1Culkin told THR he had doubted taking on the role because of how well Tucci's version is loved, saying "They're gonna hate [me]", though he said he later found a different take. He called Tucci's Flickerman empathy "a little bit performative" and said he has not spoken to Tucci. 2 Left · 1Fanning said being cast as the younger Effie was daunting, and that Elizabeth Banks, who played the character originally, gave her blessing by text. Grace said fan casting had made her nervous. 2 Left · 1Director Francis Lawrence said he delayed telling Jennifer Lawrence and Woody Harrelson that their characters were returning so they would not reveal secrets. Fiennes said he aimed to build on Donald Sutherland's Snow "without doing an imitation". 2

Centre · 1Jesse Plemons, 38, told the Press Association, as reported by the Evening Standard, that he doubted taking the role of the young Plutarch Heavensbee, played in the original films by the late Philip Seymour Hoffman, because of his "respect and admiration" for Hoffman, but accepted after talking with Francis Lawrence. 3 Centre · 1Plemons said "at this moment in time, the truth is up for debate, which is scary", and that he hopes audiences "look at the world in a new light". 3 Centre · 1Fiennes, 63, told the Press Association at a London screening event that he is "concerned" about disinformation, citing government propaganda, press bias "whether it's left wing or right wing" and politicians twisting facts about opponents, and called for "great healing figures". 4

Mixed · 2The Evening Standard said the film explores propaganda, with footage of the games manipulated to protect the regime's power; the Daily Mail quoted Collins as saying the story lent itself to a deeper dive into propaganda and the question "real or not real?". 4 1 Mixed · 2The film is set 25 years before the original story and follows Haymitch's experience in the 50th Hunger Games, the second Quarter Quell. The Daily Mail noted the franchise has taken $3.3 billion at the global box office. 1 2 Mixed · 2The outlets differ on Close's makeup: the Daily Mail said she looked unrecognisable with "heavy prosthetics and fake teeth", while Close told THR the only prosthetic was one covering a taped-up nose, with the rest done by stretching her face over 3.5 hours. 1 2