All at a volume not unlike what greeted Wuthering Heights’ Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi, and Wicked’s Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, when they graced Sydney’s State Theatre for their respective film premieres.
asserted
they → greet → premieres
It’s a closed event, primarily for glittering influencers, media and some lucky members of the public.
asserted
It → ’ → public
Most of the fans gathered are in the gutter.
asserted
Most → gather → gutter
It’s Wednesday.
asserted
It → ’ → ?
Some have been waiting at the inner-city South Eveleigh industrial precinct for nine hours.
asserted
Some → wait → hours
They have no chance of getting inside the room, and no public confirmation that who they are waiting for will actually turn up.
asserted
waiting → have → who
One travelled from Cairns, Queensland, just in case.
asserted
One → travel → case
Even if Joseph Zada – the 21-year-old Sydney-born actor who was plucked from relative obscurity to helm The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping – doesn’t show, it’s worth it.
asserted
it → bear → Reaping
“I’m a big [Zada] fan,” says 18-year-old Leah Sedgley, one of the first to arrive that morning.
asserted
Sedgley → ’m → first
“It’s so amazing to see an Aussie in such a big franchise.
asserted
It → ’ → franchise
I’ve been watching The Hunger Games since I was eight, so, it’s a very important movie.”
asserted
it → watch → Games
“He’s such an inspiration to aspiring Australian actors, that you can do it, and you can possibly get into these massive franchises,” adds 18-year-old Maddy Roth.
uncertain
Roth → ’ → franchises
Set 24 years before the events of the original trilogy’s first book, Sunrise on the Reaping explores a 16-year-old Haymitch Abernathy’s time in the Hunger Games, the annual television pageant in which children of Panem’s districts fight to the death.
asserted
children → Set → death
Woody Harrelson was the first actor to bring Abernathy to the screen, playing a weathered, surly mentor and strategist for Jennifer Lawrence’s Katniss Everdeen and Josh Hutcherson’s Peeta Mellark in four blockbuster film adaptations.
Sunrise on the Reaping depicts the trauma endured by Abernathy decades earlier, which explains Harrelson’s portrayal of a haunted alcoholic.
asserted
which → bring → alcoholic
The search for “a young actor with the skill and imagination to embody young Haymitch”, producer Nina Jacobson said, was “exhaustive and exhausting”.
asserted
Jacobson → embody → Haymitch
In the end, they found Zada.
asserted
they → find → Zada
The young actor has been especially busy these past two years, drumming up a small but notable amount of critical acclaim thanks to roles in television series Total Control, Invisible Boys, We Were Liars and East of Eden.
But not all of those projects had been released when his casting as Abernathy was confirmed in April 2025.
asserted
casting → drum → April
Handing the keys to a multibillion-dollar franchise, one that’s crucial to studio Lionsgate’s commercial viability, to a relative unknown is a risk.
asserted
that → hand → unknown
Zada, however, is no stranger to rebelling against the status quo.
asserted
Zada → rebel → quo
“I had a bit of a rough childhood, a lot of troubles and problems in my family, I got kicked out of both of my schools,” Zada told this masthead in February 2025 when speaking about his character, Charlie Roth, in Invisible Boys.
asserted
Zada → have → Boys
So I definitely relate to [Roth], the way he couldn’t fit in.”
asserted
he → relate → Roth
Zada would have graduated from Waverley College, a private, all-boys Catholic school in Sydney’s eastern suburbs, in 2023, but dropped out after being issued an ultimatum: acting, or class.
asserted
Zada → graduate → ultimatum
Meanwhile, his half-brother, actor-producer-writer Hal Cumpston, made the honour roll.
asserted
brother → make → roll
Their father is Dr Jeremy Cumpston, a general practitioner who, after a stint as “lovable rogue” nurse Connor Costello in the Seven Network soap All Saints, now mainly performs non-surgical cosmetic procedures from a dental surgery in Sydney’s eastern suburbs.
asserted
who → perform → suburbs
The strain of a since-settled legal battle with a former employer contributed to the breakdown of Cumpston’s five-year marriage to film producer Jessica Brentnall, Zada’s mother, this masthead reported in 2010.
asserted
masthead → settle → 2010
Guts is Abernathy to his core, and Zada clearly has that in spades.
asserted
Zada → have → spades
Wollongong local Ally Dawson, 24, reckons he can pull it off.
asserted
he → reckon → it
She’s been catching up on Zada’s portfolio before the new film’s release, and is so impressed by it that she drove 1½ hours to Sydney, and waited more than six hours, for the opportunity to glimpse him up close.
asserted
she → catch → him
“It’s really special that his first big role is going to be in something this big and hopefully bring a lot of attention to Australia as well,” says Dawson.
asserted
Dawson → ’ → Australia
Of course, Dawson was rewarded for her dedication.
asserted
Dawson → reward → dedication
Zada and co-star Mckenna Grace eventually show their faces, and spend about 20 minutes signing autographs and taking selfies with fans on the roadside before their minders usher them inside.
asserted
minders → show → them
Fan dedication is, after all, the bedrock upon which Lionsgate is relying on to recover from heavy debt, seven back-to-back theatrical flops in 2024, and volatile share prices.
asserted
Lionsgate → rely → 2024
A report filed to the US Securities and Exchange Commission in August puts the corporation’s debts at about $US1.9 billion ($2.7 billion), almost two-thirds of its market cap, last reported as $US3.3 billion ($4.7 billion) on America’s Nasdaq stock exchange.
asserted
report → file → exchange
Lionsgate’s 20,000-title treasure chest – including heavyweight franchises Twilight, John Wick and The Hunger Games – generates $US1 billion ($1.4 billion) yearly, according to Bloomberg Intelligence, through streaming as well as monetisation through content shared on social media sites including YouTube, TikTok, and Meta’s platforms.
uncertain
chest → include → YouTube
As analyst Geetha Ranganathan writes, the library, which accounts for a third of its annual revenue, is key to Lionsgate’s survival, given the inconsistencies in film performance for a studio of its “mini-major” size.
asserted
which → write → size
Michael, released in April, was Lionsgate’s first film to gross more than $US1 billion worldwide, narrowing its quarterly net loss to $US29 million for the June quarter.
asserted
Michael → release → quarter
Yet, Power Ballad, the next film on Lionsgate’s slate, grossed less than $US3.8 million internationally on a reported $US10 million production budget.
asserted
Ballad → gross → budget
While Sunrise on the Reaping is anchoring the studio’s next theatrical leg, how much it will generate at the box office is anyone’s guess.
asserted
generate → anchor → office
Catching Fire (2013) is highest-grossing Hunger Games film, claiming almost $US870 million internationally on a $US130 million production budget.
asserted
Fire → catch → budget
The franchise’s 2023 prequel The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, meanwhile, had a reported $US100 million production budget.
asserted
prequel → have → budget
…and 17 more, not listed.
The Aporia
