Lionsgate’s return to Panem just got another familiar name — Lili Taylor has been cast as Mags in The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping, the upcoming film adaptation of Suzanne Collins’ latest bestseller. Known to fans as the elderly but sharp-witted former victor from The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, Mags is reintroduced here as a younger version of herself, set decades before Katniss Everdeen ever volunteered. The prequel is set 24 years before the original trilogy, during the infamous Fiftieth Hunger Games — the Second Quarter Quell.
Taylor joins a cast that already includes Joseph Zada as Haymitch Abernathy, Mckenna Grace as Maysilee Donner, and Jesse Plemons as Plutarch Heavensbee, with Francis Lawrence returning to direct. The role of Mags was previously portrayed by the late Lynn Cohen, and Taylor’s casting signals both continuity and reinvention — especially as the character is expected to have greater narrative presence in this chapter of Panem’s history.
The source novel, released in March, sold a staggering 1.5 million copies in its first week across multiple territories — more than doubling the launch numbers of The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. With a 2026 release date on the horizon and production quietly gaining momentum, Sunrise on the Reaping is shaping up to be another major entry in the franchise, which has already grossed over $3.3 billion worldwide.
For Taylor, a three-time Emmy nominee, the role adds to a growing list of high-profile credits, including Marvel’s Daredevil: Born Again, Outer Range, and Netflix’s Fear Street: Prom Queen. She also recently released her first book — a meditative essay collection titled Turning to Birds.
