It's official: the next chapter in the dramatic Hunger Games saga, The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping, is coming to the big screen.
Welcome to the Second Quarter Quell.
— The Hunger Games (@TheHungerGames) June 6, 2024
The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping – in theaters November 20, 2026. pic.twitter.com/nuRcxtDZ7B
Here's everything we know so far including the story and release date.
What is the story of The Hunger Games: Sunrise On The Reaping?
According to The Hollywood Reporter, The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping takes place 24 years before the events of The Hunger Games. The film dramatises the reaping of the 50th Hunger Games, also known as the Second Quarter Quell.
This is significant as the victor in the 50th Hunger Games is Haymitch Abernathy. Following these events, Haymitch becomes the District 12 mentor to Jennifer Lawrence's Katniss Everdeen, the Mockingjay who eventually brings the evil Panem Capitol to its knees.
We're going to be presented with a younger Haymitch so original actor Woody Harrelson will likely be swapped out for another actor. However, no casting details are forthcoming.
“The Second Quarter Quell is legendary and looms large over the history of the Games, even into the time of Katniss Everdeen a quarter-century later. Like fans around the globe, we are eagerly anticipating this exciting return to Panem,” Lionsgate’s Fogelson said in a statement as he teased the next chapter in the film series.
Is the film tied into the release of Suzanne Collins' new book?
Yes, Suzanne Collins' novel Sunrise on the Reaping is due for publication on March 18th, 2025 with the film due for release in 2026.
This will be Collins' fifth Hunger Games book overall following The Hunger Games: The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay (which was split into two films), and prequel story The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.
“From the beginning, Lionsgate has been a wonderful home and partner for the Hunger Games franchise, and I’m very excited to be collaborating with Adam and the team as we bring this next story to theaters in 2026,” Collins said in a statement.
Just Announced: A NEW Hunger Games novel by Suzanne Collins coming March 18, 2025! Pre-Order today! #TheHungerGames pic.twitter.com/Se7LdU8atv
— Scholastic (@Scholastic) June 6, 2024
Will Sunrise on the Reaping be connected to The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes?
One would imagine so. Sunrise on the Reaping is being positioned between the events of the 2023 prequel movie The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, and the Katniss Everdeen-led Hunger Games saga.
Given that Sunrise on the Reaping takes place 24 years before the events of The Hunger Games, this means it takes place 40 years after the events of The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. Will the latter film's cast be swapped out as the characters age?
It's unclear whether Tom Blyth will return as Coriolanus Snow who was transitioning into his despotic personality at the end of The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. There are no official casting details and it's unclear whether other characters from the latter film will appear.
Will director Francis Lawrence be returning?
Again, this is unclear at the moment. Lawrence has helmed four out of the five Hunger Games movies: Catching Fire (2013), Mockingjay Parts 1 and II (2014 and 2015) and The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (2023).
He knows the franchise inside and out and is a safe pair of hands in dramatising the struggle between the districts and the Capitol. We are waiting for official confirmation.
When is The Hunger Games: Sunrise On The Reaping released?
You can expect to see The Hunger Games: Sunrise On The Reaping from November 20th, 2026. In the meantime, click the link below to discover 2024's upcoming action movies.
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