We are all living the Hunger Games – that is, waiting until the end of November for the release of the prequel film, Sunrise on the Reaping. The book itself by Suzanne Collins was released a little over a year ago, and Lionsgate have been working hard to get us this book to screen adaptation in record time – and the release of the first official trailer tells us it’ll be well worth the wait.
It was already widely agreed that the casting for this movie has been immaculate, and the trailer just confirms it. The fact the younger counterparts to the original cast aren’t all directly related is hard to believe, and yet it’s true! What’s more, we finally got our first peaks at the beautiful arena for the second Quarter Quell, and a pretty chilling line from President Cornelius Snow.
There are so many moments in the new Sunrise on the Reaping that have set us (girl) on fire – here are just some of them.
Elle Fanning masters Effie Trinket’s peculiar accent
Elle Fanning steps into Elizabeth Banks shoes as the extravagant Effie Trinket, and her accent is just uncanny. An American accent with a peculiar British lilt, Fanning has absolutely mastered it, and we honestly wouldn’t be surprised if they revealed Elle Fanning was Elizabeth Banks’ long lost daughter.
Maya Hawk saying “All machines can be broken” altered our brain chemistry
Speaking of absolutely off the charts excellent casting, Maya Hawk will play a younger Wiress, a character we first meet in the second The Hunger Games movie, Catching Fire. At this point, she’s deteriorated mentally and has erratic speech patterns, though she’s still whipsmart and ultimately helps them figure out how the arena works in order to survive it.
In the trailer for Sunshine on the Reaping she is, of course, a lot younger, and knowing about what we know about her character in the future, her determined delivery of the line, “All machines can be broken” in the trailer was just such a slay.
Kieran Culkin has nailed Caesar’s laugh
Look, Stanley Tucci is an icon and we’re not sure anyone could top his performance as Caesar, the official commentator of the Hunger Games. And yet, Kieran Culkin embodies this role and that laugh – we’d know it anywhere.
Haymitch Abernathy has entered the building
Woody Harrelson embodied Haymitch’s layabout, drunken, disenchanted self. Of course, Joseph Zada now has to come in, convince us he’s a younger version of Haymitch, but at a point where he’s not quite so jaded by Panem.
In his interview with Caesar, the Haymitch we know and love comes to life – and he’s got a cocky edge as his younger self. Asked how feels that there are 100% more tributes than usual, he says, “From what I’ve seen, they’re 100% stupid as usual.” Shots fired.
The tributes being able to see each other before the games begin is messed up
It’s unsurprising really. The 50th Hunger Games, this Quarter Quell is the most brutal Hunger Games within the universe, with double the tributes entering the games. To make matters worse – and set to cause psychological warfare – the trailer teases that the tributes all get a good look at each other before they enter the arena. You can practically smell the blood lust.
That’s before they’re shuttled up into what might be the most stunning cornucopia we’ve ever seen. The clock was pretty magicient and technically satisfying in Catching Fire, but, for a battle ground, the tributes arrive in a circle that surrounds the cornucopia, with formations of flowers pointing towards them. The rest of the arena appears to be an expanse of green fields and mountain ranges. Shame it’s about to be covered in the blood of the innocent…
Ralph Fiennes’ President Snow saying “May the odds be–”
There is something extra sinister about Ralph Fiennes playing a younger President Cornelius Snow (portrayed by the late Donald Sutherland in the original trilogy, and by Tom Blyth in the sequel, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes).
Perhaps it’s because, for many fans, there was plenty of crossover between the hype of the Harry Potter movies, in which Fiennes played He Who Must Not Be Named, and that legacy as one of childrens literatures’ most iconic villains still lingers. And it gets worse when President Snow delivers one of the most well-known lines in the trailer.
Before he can complete the phrase “May the odds be ever in your favour”, though, he cuts off and a smug smile crawls across his lips, because he knows the playing field will forever tilt towards him, reigning in The Capitol.
Are you all counting down to 20th November like we are? The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping movie is about to become our whole personality.
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