Glenn Close and Billy Porter to star in The Hunger Games: Sunrise On The Reaping

By Casey Cooper-Fiske, PA Entertainment Reporter

The Hunger Games: Sunrise On The Reaping is to star Glenn Close and Billy Porter when it is released next year.

Due for release in November 2026, the sixth film in the fantasy franchise will star Close, 78, as escort Drusilla Sickle, and Porter, 55, as stylist Magno Stift – who is also her onscreen husband.

It comes after Conclave star Ralph Fiennes was cast as villain President Coriolanus Snow in the prequel, which will be an adaption of the fifth book in the series written by Suzanne Collins.

The book was published in March 2025 and is a prequel to the original trilogy, which was adapted into the films starring US actress Jennifer Lawrence.

Close is best known for her appearances in Fatal Attraction (1988), Dangerous Liaisons (1989), and 101 Dalmatians (1996), where she played Cruella De Vil, while Porter is best known for his performances on Broadway in shows such as Kinky Boots.

The new film follows a young Haymitch Abernathy, one of the few Hunger Games winners from the same district as the original trilogy’s protagonist Katniss Everdeen, played by Lawrence.

Played by Zombieland actor Woody Harrelson, Haymitch is first introduced to readers in the original trilogy as the alcoholic mentor to tributes Katniss and Peeta Mellark, played by Bridge To Terabithia’s Josh Hutcherson, before they are sent off to fight to the death in a televised arena.

The prequel follows Haymitch as he is drawn to fight in the 50th Hunger Games, a violent entertainment set up to maintain control in the fictional country of Panem, and faces double the amount of tributes, two boys and two girls, who are selected from each district.

The movie will be directed by Francis Lawrence, who also directed the Hunger Games: Catching Fire, Mockingjay Part I, and Mockingjay Part II.

The Hunger Games: Sunrise On The Reaping will be released in cinemas on November 20th, 2026.