Kelvin Harrison Jr. is the latest big name to volunteer as tribute. The Mufasa: The Lion King and Elvis star has officially joined Lionsgate’s The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping as Beetee, the tech-savvy victor of the 34th Hunger Games — a role previously played by Jeffrey Wright in the original franchise. Harrison joins an impressive ensemble cast that includes Joseph Zada as a young Haymitch Abernathy and Whitney Peak as Lenore Dove Baird, Haymitch’s girlfriend. Mckenna Grace and Jesse Plemons are also on board for the high-profile prequel, with franchise veteran Francis Lawrence once again stepping behind the camera to direct.
The book by Suzanne Collins, which takes place 24 years before Katniss Everdeen’s rebellion, sold 1.5 million copies in its first week — triple the opening week numbers of Mockingjay and well ahead of The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. In this timeline, Haymitch is still a District 12 tribute, training to compete in the 50th Hunger Games — also known as the Second Quarter Quell. Sunrise on the Reaping will chart his rise, the trauma he suffered as a result of the games, and the events that shaped him into the hardened mentor fans came to know in The Hunger Games saga, where Woody Harrelson made the character iconic on screen.
Billy Ray penned the screenplay, with franchise mainstays Nina Jacobson and Brad Simpson producing under Color Force. Cameron MacConomy serves as executive producer, while Meredith Wieck and Scott O’Brien are overseeing for Lionsgate.
Who Is Kelvin Harrison Jr.?
Harrison, whose recent standout performances include portraying Fred Hampton in The Trial of the Chicago 7 and B.B. King in Elvis, is also set to play Jean-Michel Basquiat in the upcoming Samo Lives, a project he’s executive producing. It’s expected that his performance as Beetee is going to give fans of the series a more formative glimpse into the character’s brilliance, trauma, and rise to District 3 hero that saved our heroes in Catching Fire — long before he ever teamed with Katniss and Peeta in the 75th Games.
The film is set to premiere in theaters on November 20, 2026.
via Collider