Elle Fanning cast as young Effie Trinket in Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping

Elle Fanning joins The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping as a young Effie Trinket, honoring Elizabeth Banks’ legacy

Elle Fanning has officially joined the cast of The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping, taking on the iconic role of Effie Trinket.

The Emmy-nominated actress will portray a younger version of the Capitol escort originally made famous by Elizabeth Banks. This upcoming prequel, based on the bestselling novel by Suzanne Collins, explores the 50th Hunger Games—also known as the Second Quarter Quell—24 years before the original series.

Effie Trinket.

The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping – in theaters November 20, 2026. pic.twitter.com/zm4LIkN8eb

— The Hunger Games (@TheHungerGames) May 20, 2025

Lionsgate’s Motion Picture Group co-president Erin Westerman praised Fanning’s casting, saying, “Elle Fanning’s presence is warm, sparkling, and full of depth. She was the undeniable fan favorite to step into Effie’s early, formative years.”

Joining Fanning in the cast are Joseph Zada as Haymitch Abernathy, Whitney Peak as Lenore Dove Baird, Mckenna Grace as Maysilee Donner, Jesse Plemons as Plutarch Heavensbee, and Ralph Fiennes as President Snow, among others. Francis Lawrence returns as director, with a script adapted by Billy Ray and production by Color Force’s Nina Jacobson and Brad Simpson.

The film is set to release on November 20, 2026. The source novel has already seen remarkable success, selling 1.5 million copies in its first week globally—more than doubling first-week sales of The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.

Fanning, recently seen in the Oscar-nominated A Complete Unknown, will also appear in Joachim Trier’s Sentimental Value and Apple TV+’s Margo’s Got Money Troubles.