Joseph Zada and Mckenna Grace Greet Sydney Fans at the Global Launch Event for the Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping

Australian actor Joseph Zada has kicked off the global press tour with Mckenna Grace in his hometown of Sydney, Australia for The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping.

The next chapter of one of cinema’s most durable young-adult franchises will have an Australian star at the centre, with Zada stepping into the role of young Haymitch Abernathy as the franchise prequel opens its global campaign on home soil.

The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping launched its international press tour in Sydney on October 14, bringing Sydney-born actor Joseph Zada home in the role of young Haymitch Abernathy alongside co-star Mckenna Grace as fellow District 12 tribute Maysilee Donner.

The pair marked the start of the campaign with a photo call overlooking Sydney Harbour, the Opera House behind them. Then it was time for the main event of the night. That evening the actors joined fans at The Eveleigh at The Grounds of Alexandria for the tour’s first public event. Australian comedian Joel Creasey hosted a live Q&A, and organisers added a surprise aerial performance drawn from the film’s arena spectacle.

Held more than a month before the release of the film in cinemas, the event was a chance for fans to get to know the new cast members who are the face of the franchise’s new prequel. In addition to the impressive event set-up that included a banquet of treats fit for The Capital, the stars also delivered some interesting anecdotes on stage during the Q&A. Grace shared her story of being on the set of her film Regretting You when she first found out she was cast in The Hunger Games, telling how she tried to keep it a secret on set but her castmates had already correctly guessed the news. Zada meanwhile was quite playful during the discussion, emphasising how fun it was to make the film and excitedly gesturing towards his family, a crew of a dozen or more who were thrilled to see him take the stage, about how excited he was to be leading the film.

Sunrise on the Reaping returns to Panem for the 50th Hunger Games, known as the Second Quarter Quell. The story opens on the morning of the reaping for 16-year-old Haymitch Abernathy of District 12, 24 years before Katniss Everdeen’s first Games. Twice as many tributes enter the arena. Haymitch forms an alliance with Maysilee Donner and joins others determined to challenge President Snow, played by Ralph Fiennes. Francis Lawrence, who directed Catching Fire, both Mockingjay films and The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, directs from a screenplay by Billy Ray and Michael Lesslie, adapted from Suzanne Collins’ 2025 novel.

Zada, 21, is the first Australian actor cast in a leading role across the six-film series. He grew up in Sydney, the son of actor-director Jeremy Cumpston and producer Jessica Brentnall. He left high school early to pursue acting and has appeared in the Stan series Invisible Boys, Amazon’s We Were Liars and Netflix’s East of Eden, in which he plays Cal Trask. Grace, already known for roles including a young Margot Robbie in I, Tonya, brings established screen experience to Maysilee, the original owner of the Mockingjay pin that later defines Katniss.

The supporting cast includes Jesse Plemons as Plutarch Heavensbee, Elle Fanning as a young Effie Trinket, Kieran Culkin as Caesar Flickerman, Glenn Close, Maya Hawke, Whitney Peak and Kelvin Harrison Jr. The film is the sixth in the Lionsgate series, following 2023’s The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, which itself adapted a prequel novel and opened the door to further origin stories.

Roadshow Films will release Sunrise on the Reaping in Australian cinemas and IMAX on November 19.