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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Lifestyle
Sian Baldwin

A new Hunger Games book is coming: Sunrise on the Reaping release date announced

A new Hunger Games book is coming, but diehard fans will have to wait a year to get their hands on it.

Author Suzanne Collins confirmed the exciting news today (June 7), with the latest edition due to go on sale on March 18, 2025.

Sunrise on the Reaping will be the fifth volume of Suzanne Collins's best-selling dystopian series and will be set 24 years before the first Hunger Games novel, which came out in 2008, and 40 years after the author’s most recent book, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, according to her publishing company, Scholastic.

While her previous novels have drawn inspiration from Greek and Roman mythology, Ms Collins’ new book will delve into something different this time. She hinted that she’s feeling inspired by Scottish Enlightenment philosopher David Hume, specifically his "idea of implicit submission” and, in his words, “the easiness with which the many are governed by the few".

And Katniss Everdeen fans do not only have the book to look forward to, but also a new film. Film studio Lionsgate, which has released all of the Hunger Games movies so far, also jumped on board, confirming it will be adapting the new book for the big screen - naming 20 November 2026 as its release date in cinemas.

Francis Lawrence, who worked on all but the first Hunger Games film, is also returning as the director.

The first four Hunger Games books have sold more than 100 million copies worldwide and have been translated into dozens of languages.

The franchise is also set to become a West End show later this year. The new play, which will be premiering in London in Autumn 2024, will be written by Olivier-Award-wining playwright Conor McPherson (The Night Alive, The Veil) and will be directed by Matthew Dunster, the director of 2:22 - A Ghost Story, Hangmen and The Pillowman.

"To receive Suzanne Collins’ blessing to adapt The Hunger Games for the stage is both humbling and inspiring," said McPherson. "She has created a classic story which continues to resonate now more than ever. In a world where the truth itself seems increasingly up for grabs, The Hunger Games beautifully expresses values of resilience, self-reliance and independent moral inquiry for younger people especially."

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