Sam Claflin is Excited for ‘Sunrise on the Reaping’
With Sunrise on the Reaping, a new prequel film in The Hunger Games franchise almost here, one familiar tribute is just as excited as we are. Sam Claflin, who played…
MADRID, SPAIN – NOVEMBER 12: Actor Sam Claflin attends the “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1” (Los Juegos del Hambre: Sinsajo Parte 1) photocall at the Villamagna Hotel on November 12, 2014 in Madrid, Spain. (Photo by Carlos Alvarez/Getty Images)
With Sunrise on the Reaping, a new prequel film in The Hunger Games franchise almost here, one familiar tribute is just as excited as we are. Sam Claflin, who played the almost-always-shirtless heartthrob Finnick Odair, recently shared he’s as hyped as the rest of Panem for the prequel.
Claflin portrayed Finnick in Catching Fire, and Mockingjay Part 1 and 2, stealing and breaking hearts with his charm and death. (Still crying over it, tbh). Sunrise on the Reaping is set decades before Finnick’s time. Yet, Claflin still feels connected to the world Suzanne Collins created.
Sam Claflin: “Can’t Help But Feel Attached to It”
In an interview with Variety while promoting the series The Count of Monte Cristo, Claflin revealed that he’s still invested in The Hunger Games universe. He said he loved The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, led by Tom Blyth and Rachel Zegler. The Me Before You actor shared, “I thought it was a fresh take with a fresh generation. They did a wonderful job. I understand the Sunrise on the Reaping book is even better.”
(Of course, it helps that it’s about Haymitch Abernathy, who is a fan favorite. Fans have also been asking Suzanne Collins to write his story for the longest time.)
Sunrise on the Reaping, which has cast Joseph Zada as Haymitch Abernathy, Jesse Plemons as Plutarch Heavensbee, Whitney Peak as Lenore Dove Baird, and McKenna Grace as Maysilee Donner, will be directed by Francis Lawrence, who directed all Hunger Games films except the first one.
Claflin also mentioned catching up with Lawrence recently and talking about their experience doing the movies: “I recently sat down in L.A. with Francis, who is the man who cast me. Being able to reminisce with him and hear about the producing side of it, as they are in Berlin preparing for the film, was so exciting. I was picking his brain. I’d heard who they had in mind for casting and thought, ‘Oh my god, this is so exciting!’ So, I am right there with you and everyone looking forward to it.”
The British actor also revealed that his nine-year-old son is already aware of his movies. (“He’s nearly old enough to watch it.”) It seems Claflin is more excited than his son and said, “Experiencing it through his eyes soon will be really, really rewarding.”
He also shared how some of his friends’ kids, who have watched it, ask him every time he sees them: “It’s so nice being able to connect with the younger generation on that, especially being a father myself now. It’s a joy.”
Sunrise on the Reaping is scheduled for a theatrical release on November 20, 2026.
