LOS ANGELES — Ben Wang has been cast as Wyatt Callow, the District 12 tribute, in the upcoming film The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping. The movie is based on Suzanne Collins’ bestselling novel and will hit theaters on November 20, 2026.
Wang joins an ensemble cast that includes Joseph Zada as 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.
Ben Wang is best known for playing Jin Wang in Disney+ series American Born Chinese, where he starred alongside Oscar winners Michelle Yeoh and Ke Huy Quan. He will next appear as the lead in Karate Kid: Legends from Sony Pictures, set to release worldwide on May 30.
Wang was selected for Karate Kid after a global casting search with over 10,000 submissions. He also stars in The Long Walk, a Lionsgate feature based on the Stephen King novel, directed by Francis Lawrence, who is also directing Sunrise on the Reaping.
He recently completed work on two independent films. In Brian, a coming-of-age story, Wang plays the title role opposite William H. Macy, Randall Park, and Edi Patterson. The film is directed by Will Ropp and produced by Seth Meyers and Mike Scollins. Wang also stars in an R-rated comedy titled Untitled Celebrity Pass Movie, written by David Wain and Ken Marino, alongside Zoey Deutch, Jon Hamm, and John Slattery.
Previously, Wang appeared in Paramount’s musical Mean Girls and Disney’s coming-of-age film Chang Can Dunk. He is a graduate of NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts.
Sunrise on the Reaping revisits Panem 24 years before the original Hunger Games story, starting on the day of the reaping for the 50th Hunger Games, known as the Second Quarter Quell.
Francis Lawrence, who has directed every Hunger Games film since Catching Fire in 2012, returns to direct. Billy Ray is adapting the screenplay. The film is produced by Nina Jacobson and Brad Simpson of Color Force, with Cameron MacConomy as executive producer. Lionsgate’s Meredith Wieck and Scott O’Brien are overseeing the project. Robert Melnik handled the deal for the studio.
The book was released on March 18 and sold 1.5 million copies in its first week across the U.S., U.K., Ireland, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. In the U.S. alone, it sold 1.2 million copies—twice as many as The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes and three times more than Mockingjay.
Ben Wang is represented by Artists First, Stewart Talent, and Schreck Rose Dapello Adams Berlin & Dunham.
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