Kieran Culkin joins star-studded cast of The Hunger Games prequel film

Kieran Culkin will play the younger version of Stanley Tucci's character Caesar Flickerman in The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping.
The Succession star has found his first film role since he won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for Jesse Eisenberg's A Real Pain in March.
Culkin has signed up to play Caesar Flickerman, the eccentric host of The Hunger Games TV broadcast who interviews all of the tributes before they fight to the death in the arena.
Tucci previously played an older version of the character in the original Hunger Games franchise between 2012 and 2015.
"Kieran's scene-stealing presence and undeniable charm are perfect for Caesar Flickerman, the sickeningly watchable host of Panem's darkest spectacle," said Lionsgate Motion Picture Group co-president Erin Westerman in a statement. "Stanley Tucci made Caesar unforgettable - and now Kieran will make the role entirely his own."
Producer Nina Jacobson added, "Kieran's magnetism, wit, and unpredictability make him a perfect fit for Caesar Flickerman. A host like Caesar transforms brutality into entertainment, and an actor as layered as Kieran makes sure we don't look away."
Based on the 2025 novel by Suzanne Collins, Sunrise on the Reaping is set 24 years before the original book series and film adaptations. It tells the story of Haymitch Abernathy and depicts his time competing in the 50th Hunger Games.
The cast of the film adaptation has been slowly announced over the past month. Culkin's cast members include Jesse Plemons, Ralph Fiennes, Elle Fanning, Maya Hawke, Kelvin Harrison Jr. and Mckenna Grace. Newcomer Joseph Zada will play Haymitch.
The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping, to be helmed by returning director Francis Lawrence, will be released in cinemas on 20 November 2026.