Ready to return to the ruthless world of Panem? Released on March 20th in French bookstores, the new novel The Hunger Games: Sunrise over the Harvest is already preparing its film adaptation for next year. The sixth film in the cult franchise is scheduled to hit French theaters starting November 18, 2026. To meet this tight schedule, Lionsgate is launching production at full speed, with filming scheduled to begin this summer. This prequel dedicated to Haymitch, Katniss and Peeta's mentor, did not fail to make a strong impression in print format and is already establishing itself as one of the best volumes of the saga. The teams in charge of the adaptation will therefore have some big promises to keep, starting with the film's casting.
Who will be able to offer a performance worthy of Woody Harrelson? Because to maintain the continuity of the feature films, Lionsgate has decided to respect the character's traits as represented in onscreen since the first film, rather than returning to the physical descriptions in the book. Last month, franchise producer Nina Jacobson expressed her desire to find someone who ““” doesn’t imitate Woody Harrelson” but rather “capable of transcribing this younger version of the character, before the trauma and grief that The Hunger Games made him suffer.“. It didn't take long for the studio to lift the veil on the actors of Haymitch Abernathy and his girlfriend Lenore Dove Baird, in order to concretize the progress of the project with the general public.
Young profiles who are starting out
To respect the tradition of the Hunger Games franchise, which has always placed With early-career actors in the lead roles, Sunrise Over the Harvest reveals first faces that few viewers will recognize. At just 20 years old, Australian actor Joseph Zada landed the major role of Haymitch. He will be accompanied by Whitney Peak, 22, who will play his girlfriend Lenove Dove Baird. Younger audiences will likely recognize the actress from her roles in the 2021 reboot of Gossip Girl and Hocus Pocus 2. Among hundreds of talented performers from around the world, these two distinguished themselves not only by their talent, but also by the emotional power they brought to these iconic roles.”
We will have to wait for the film's release to judge the talent of these two actors, but we can already applaud the efforts of the casting teams for other reasons. Joseph Zada looks like Haymitch, but for this character, it was enough to find a resemblance to the previous performer. In the case of Lenore Dove, however, the choice of Whitney Peak already makes unanimously acclaimed by readers and fans of the franchise. In addition to perfectly matching the descriptions of the rebellious young Covey given to us in the novel, features shared with Rachel Zegler – who played Lucy Gray Baird in The Ballad of the Serpent and the Songbird – help strengthen the bond between the two characters who have their role to play in this new story.
We now look forward to discovering the faces of other key characters, such as Louella McCoy, Maysilee Donner and Wyatt Callow, the other tributes who accompany Haymitch to the Capitol for the 50th Hunger Games.
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