The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping Casts Jesse Plemons as a Younger Version of the Late Philip Seymour Hoffman's Character

Jesse Plemons has been cast as Plutarch Heavensbee in The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping, and he will be playing a younger version of the character the late Philip Seymour Hoffman played in the original Hunger Games films.

Lionsgate shared the news and noted that this future Head Gamemaker and rebellion leader will be seen at the beginning of the film "in District 12, capturing the reaping of the Tributes there."

As for the movie itself, it is based on Suzanne Collins' novel of the same name and "revisits the world of Panem twenty-four years before the events of The Hunger Games, starting on the morning of the reaping of the Fiftieth Hunger Games, also known as the Second Quarter Quell." And yes, these are the same deadly games that Woody Harrelson's Haymitch Abernathy played in (and won).

Plemons was recently seen in Black Mirror, Zero Day, Kinds of Kindness, Civil War, and Killers of the Flower Moon, and apparently was the dream casting for the team at Lionsgate.

"Jesse is one of the most talented actors of his generation, with a proven record of picking his roles selectively," Erin Westerman, co-president, Lionsgate Motion Picture Group said. "We are honored that he has chosen to bring his own take to one of the most fascinating figures in Panem, and feel that his previous collaboration with Philip Seymour Hoffman makes it all the more special. His Plutarch will be both a tribute to the character fans have already come to know and a portrayal he makes his own. We can’t wait for audiences to see it.”

Westerman was speaking of the time Plemons and Hoffman acted together in 2012's The Master, which was one of the late actor's last films before he passed in 2014. In fact, Hoffman's final two movies before he passed away were The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1 & 2.

The Hunger Games: Sunrise of the Reaping will be released in theaters on November 29, 2026, and will be directed by Francis Lawrence, who directed four of the five Hunger Games films beginning with Catching Fire.

For more, check out how Sunrise on the Reaping has already nearly reached the top of the best-sellers on Amazon after being released on March 18, 2025, and how you can take advantage of a great Audible deal to listen to it today.

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Adam Bankhurst is a writer for IGN. You can follow him on X/Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on TikTok.