McKenna Grace is cast in The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping.

      Following the announcement about young Haymitch Abernathy in the upcoming prequel, The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping, we have further casting updates for the highly anticipated film. According to Deadline, McKenna Grace (Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire) has joined the project as one of the female tributes from District 12.

      Grace will portray Maysilee Donner, a 16-year-old girl from District 12’s market area, unlike the poorer Seam where Haymitch and eventually Katniss Everdeen come from. She is briefly mentioned in Suzanne Collins’ novel Catching Fire as an old friend of Katniss' mother and an ally of Haymitch during the Quarter Quell Hunger Games.

      Alongside Grace, Joseph Zada and Whitney Peak will star in the film, with Zada playing young Haymitch and Peak portraying his girlfriend Lenore Dove Baird, who is a distant cousin to Rachel Zelger’s Lucy Gray Baird from the previous prequel, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.

      Francis Lawrence returns to direct Sunrise on the Reaping after helming every Hunger Games film since Catching Fire. The script for the adaptation is being written by the original Hunger Games screenwriter Billy Ray. Producing are Jacobson and Brad Simpson for Color Force, with Cameron MacConomy as executive producer.

      Grace will next appear in Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 and Scream 7.

      The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping will delve into the world of Panem 24 years prior to the events of The Hunger Games, commencing on the morning of the reaping for the 50th Hunger Games, also referred to as the Second Quarter Quell.

      The release date for The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping is set for November 20th, 2026.

      Ricky Church – Follow me on Bluesky for more updates on movies and entertainment discussions.