Francis Lawrence says he would like to explore Plutarch Heavensbee’s backstory in another Hunger Games installment. The idea surfaced at the London premiere of Sunrise on the Reaping, where he tied the character to Jesse Plemons’ performance. That is as far as the pitch has gone for now.
Jesse Plemons in Plutarch
Lawrence said, “I think Plutarch's a really interesting character and Jesse [Plemons] just did a tremendous job.” Plemons plays a younger version of Plutarch in Sunrise on the Reaping, giving the franchise a fresh entry point on a character who already sits deep in its history.
Plutarch first appears as a cameraman assigned to District 12 during the 50th Hunger Games, also known as the Second Quarter Quell. In 2013, Philip Seymour Hoffman played an older version in The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, where the character was already moving between service to the Capitol and work against President Snow. Lawrence is clearly treating that arc as expandable, not finished.
At the London premiere
Nina Jacobson also leaned into the idea at the same London event, calling herself a “Plutarch obsessive.” She added, “He's been at this for 25 years playing both sides. Like, how did you pull that off?” That line points to the real commercial hook here: the role can support a separate story if the franchise wants another prequel with a narrower focus.
For readers tracking the film slate, the immediate practical answer is simple: Sunrise on the Reaping is still the film on deck, scheduled to arrive in cinemas on November 20, 2026. A Plutarch project would be a separate decision, and the franchise has only taken this path before through Suzanne Collins’ novels, including The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes and Sunrise on the Reaping itself.
The smart read is that Lawrence is testing appetite, not announcing a production. If Suzanne Collins chooses to build that corner of Panem again, Plutarch already has the kind of history that can carry a feature without leaning on Haymitch Abernathy or Katniss Everdeen; if not, this stays a promising idea that came out of a premiere interview and no further.
Francis Lawrence Guides New Hunger Games Movie Into 3D for Meta VR Glasses offers more on his current franchise work, while Elle Fanning Tops Francis Lawrence’s List for The Hunger Games Cast tracks another casting conversation around the same film universe.
Francis Lawrence Lands Paramount’s Red Rising Movie Adaptation shows how quickly his attention is spreading beyond one franchise, which makes this Plutarch pitch feel less like noise and more like an opening move.
