Is Mike Faist playing young Haymitch in the Hunger Games prequel?
No, Mike Faist isn’t playing Haymitch Abernathy in the Hunger Games prequel – at least, not officially (Lionsgate Entertainment/ Getty)
A theory that Challengers star Mike Faist is going to play Haymitch Abernathy in the newest Hunger Games prequel has gone viral.
The Hunger Games franchise is back… again. Following the original four films from 2012 to 2015 (based on Suzanne Collins’s trilogy of novels), starring Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson, the series returned last year with prequel The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, which focused on President Snow’s origins.
The box-office smash was followed up by a double-whammy announcement from Collins earlier this year: not only is a fifth book coming, detailing the hunger games of Haymitch Abernathy (Katniss and Peeta’s mentor), but an accompanying film adaptation is also on the way.
The book and film, Sunrise on the Reaping, will take place after the events of Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes but before the original Hunger Games, during the second quarter quell.
Following the announcement, people were quick to fan-cast the new film’s main character, with everyone from JoJo Siwa to Chad Michaels being mentioned. But the most popular theory has come from an unofficial post from an unverified X account, claiming that Challengers star Faist would be playing Haymitch.
“Mike Faist is set to star in the upcoming film of The Hunger Games franchise, which will tell the story of how Haymitch won the games,” the account claimed.
The theory was reported by Vulture, who attributed the claim to Production Weekly, who had only written “Mike Faist mentioned for the male lead,” in its announcement.
There are various possibilities that could be drawn from the claim, but it’s worth mentioning that “male lead” might not mean the Haymitch character, who was 16 at the time of his Games – half Faist’s age.
The source also only “mentioned” Faist for a role, possibly in the same way that Drag Race fans like to “mention” the possibility of Willam returning to an All Stars season, i.e. it’s not going to happen.
Other potential extrapolations from the claim include a) the source being entirely incorrect, b) Faist is actually playing Haymitch, or c) Faist is indeed in talks, but no decision has been made.
Either way, we really don’t know. But the book and film are due in 2025 and 2026, respectively.
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