The 'Hunger Games' prequel taps Jesse Plemons for powerful role

The much-anticipated Hunger Games prequel, The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping, expanded its cast with the addition of an Oscar-nominated actor.

Lionsgate announced on Friday, April 25, that they had tapped Jesse Plemons to play young Plutarch Heavensbee in the upcoming movie, set to hit the theatres on November 20, 2026.

The Killers of the Flower Moon star has officially joined the previously announced cast, which includes Joseph Zada, Whitney Peak and Mckenna Grace, who is set to play Haymitch Abernathy, his girlfriend Lenore Dove Baird and Maysilee Donner, respectively.

Plemons, 37, has been cast to play a younger version of the powerful Capitol figure originally portrayed by Philip Seymour Hoffman in the 2012 film adaptation of Suzanne Collins’ bestselling novel.

Movie producer Nina Jacobson and Color Force co-partner Brad Simpson called The Power of the Dog actor’s casting decision the "dream choice."

In addition, Erin Westerman, Lionsgate executive, says it’s "an honour" to have Plemons on board after the actor’s past collaboration with Hoffman, making the Hunger Games prequel a full-circle moment for the Love & Death actor.

For the unversed, the 37-year-old actor collaborated with the late actor in the Oscar-nominated 2012 drama The Master, which featured Plemons as Val Dodd, the son of Hoffman's character, Lancaster Dodd.

Additionally, Sunrise on the Reaping is based on the fifth instalment of Suzanne Collins' dystopian novel of the same name, which was published on March 18 and takes place 24 years before the events of the original Hunger Games.