Meet the new Flickerman: Kieran Culkin joins The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping

Kieran Culkin is an actor known for his performance in several films and shows, including HBO's Succession. His fans will be excited to know that he has been cast in the upcoming film, The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping. It is a prequel to Jennifer Lawrence starring The Hunger Games, which was released in 2012.

Sunrise on the Reaping will be released on November 20, 2026, by Lionsgate. Culkin plays a pivotal role essayed by another actor in the earlier installments.

Kieran Culkin joins the cast of The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping

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Kieran Culkin will play Caesar Flickerman in The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping. Stanley Tucci played the character in the previous installments. Culkin won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in A Real Pain and an Emmy Award for his role in Succession.

The casting of the film is nearly done except for the character of Caesar. Here is a list:

Joseph Zada as Haymitch Abernathy
Ralph Fiennes as President Snow
Whitney Peak as Lenore Dove Baird
Jesse Plemons as Plutarch Heavensbee
Molly McCann as Louella McCoy
Elle Fanning as Effie Trinket
Kieran Culkin as Caesar Flickerman
Maya Hawke as Wiress
Kelvin Harrison Jr. as Beetee Latier
McKenna Grace as Maysilee Donner
Ben Wang as Wyatt Callow
Molly McCann as Louella McCoy
Lil Taylor as Mags Flanagan

The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping is helmed by Francis Lawrence and is written by Billy Ray. Brad Simpson and Nina Jacobson are the producers. The film is an adaptation of Suzanne Collins' 2025 novel Sunrise on the Reaping. A prequel to 2012's The Hunger Games, the film is also a standalone sequel to the 2023 film The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes. Overall, the film is the sixth entry in the franchise. Both the film and the novel were announced back in June 2024. Keiran Culkin's addition is expected to bring more energy to the film.

At the 2025 CinemaCon, Francis Lawrence spoke to EW about reading the book a year ago.

"Honestly, I read the manuscript originally about a year ago, and when I read it, I fell in love with it and I think it's one of, if not, my favorite book in the series and so I think just coming back to a family that we've built and to a world we've built and certain characters and certain crew members and my producer Nina and working with Suzanne that's all great but I think going back in and telling what I think is one of her best stories within the franchise is really exciting."

Kieran Culkin will be stepping into Stanley Tucci's shoes in the upcoming film. Are you excited about it? Sound off in the comments section.