‘The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping’: Ben Wang to Play District 12 Tribute!!

Lionsgate’s return to Panem just got even more exciting. Ben Wang, the breakout star of American Born Chinese and the upcoming Karate Kid: Legends, has officially been cast as Wyatt Callow — the male District 12 tribute in The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping. The upcoming prequel will serve as the next film in Suzanne Collins’ blockbuster dystopian saga. Wang joins an already stacked cast that includes Joseph Zada as a young Haymitch Abernathy, Whitney Peak as Lenore Dove Baird, Mckenna Grace as Maysilee Donner, Jesse Plemons as Plutarch Heavensbee, Maya Hawke as Wiress, Kelvin Harrison Jr. as Beetee, and Lili Taylor as Mags.

Set 24 years before the original Hunger Games trilogy, Sunrise on the Reaping opens on the day of the 50th Hunger Games — the notoriously bloody Second Quarter Quell. Fans of the franchise will remember that Haymitch’s brutal victory in that Quell became a defining chapter in his character’s tragic backstory. Wang’s character, Wyatt Callow, will represent District 12 in the arena alongside Grace’s Maysilee Donner — the tribute who, according to Catching Fire, forms a temporary alliance with Haymitch during the Games. The downside to casting such likeable names as tributes in this film is obvious — we shouldn’t be getting attached, because we know there can only be one winner.

Sunrise on the Reaping marks the second cinematic return to Panem following 2023’s The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, which grossed $348 million worldwide. Lawrence, who has directed every film in the franchise since 2012’s Catching Fire, returns once again to helm the prequel from a script by Billy Ray. The novel was published earlier this year, on March 18, and sold a staggering 1.5 million copies in its first week across the U.S., U.K., Ireland, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand — including 1.2 million in the U.S. alone. That’s double the first-week performance of The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes and triple that of Mockingjay.

Who Is Ben Wang?

Wang received critical acclaim for his lead performance in American Born Chinese, where he starred opposite Oscar winners Michelle Yeoh and Ke Huy Quan. Later this month, he headlines Karate Kid: Legends — landing the coveted role after an extensive global search that drew over 10,000 submissions. This summer, Wang also stars in The Long Walk, a dark dystopian thriller directed by Sunrise on the Reaping’s own Francis Lawrence and based on the Stephen King novel of the same name. He’s also wrapped lead roles in two independent features: Brian, opposite William H. Macy, Randall Park, and Edi Patterson, and the untitled R-rated comedy Celebrity Pass movie, opposite Zoey Deutch, Jon Hamm, and John Slattery, from Wet Hot American Summer duo David Wain and Ken Marino.