Kieran Culkin Will Play Caesar Flickerman in THE HUNGER GAMES: SUNRISE ON THE REAPING

Lionsgate has confirmed that Emmy-winning Succession star Kieran Culkin will take on the role of Caesar Flickerman in The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping, the upcoming prequel based on Suzanne Collins’ bestseller.

This puts Culkin in the shoes of the flamboyant Hunger Games host previously played by Stanley Tucci in the original films, and there’s no doubt that Culkin will bring chaotic charm to the character.

Set 24 years before Katniss Everdeen’s rise, Sunrise on the Reaping opens on the grim morning of the 50th Hunger Games, also known as the Second Quarter Quell. This brutal version of the games sends 48 children into the arena including a young, sharp-tongued Haymitch Abernathy, played by Joseph Zada. Whitney Peak stars opposite him as Lenore Dove Baird.

The cast lineup is stacked with McKenna Grace as Maysilee Donner, Jesse Plemons as Plutarch Heavensbee, Kelvin Harrison Jr. as Beetee, Maya Hawke as Wiress, Lili Taylor as Mags, Ben Wang as Wyatt Callow, Ralph Fiennes as President Snow, and Elle Fanning as a younger Effie Trinket.

Francis Lawrence returns to direct, keeping the world of Panem in familiar hands, with a script from Billy Ray. Producers Nina Jacobson and Brad Simpson are back under the Color Force banner, and Lionsgate’s Cameron MacConomy is executive producing.

Culkin’s casting adds serious prestige. He’s coming off an Oscar win for A Real Pain, which he starred in opposite Jesse Eisenberg, and his Broadway run in Glengarry Glen Ross alongside Bob Odenkirk and Bill Burr is doing very well.

The film is scheduled to hit theaters on November 20, 2026.