The Hunger Games franchise lives on. After Suzanne Collins' first three books following Katniss Everdeen become worldwide best-sellers and their movie adaptations box office hits, the prequel story The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes received the same double treatment, focusing on a young Coriolanus Snow and the 10th Hunger Games. The history of Panem will continue to be told in books and on the big screen with this latest prequel, The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping.
The book, Sunrise on the Reaping, is the fifth from Collins in the franchise and is set to hit bookshelves on March 18, 2025. The same day details of the book were announced, so was the plan for the movie adaptation. But when can Hunger Games fans expect the movie, what's it about and who's in it?
We'll be updating this post with any information that comes out for the movie, but right now here is everything we know about The Hunger Games: Sunrise of the Reaping.
The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping release date
The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping will premiere in movie theaters in North America on November 20, 2026. It is unclear at this time if the UK will have a different release date.
The movie will arrive about 19 months after the book is released, and it arrives three years after the most recent movie in the franchise, The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.
The Hunger Games: Sunrise of the Reaping plot
This is what has been shared about the plot of The Hunger Games: Sunrise of the Reaping:
"The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping will revisit the world of Panem 24 years before the events of The Hunger Games, starting on the morning of the reaping of the 50th Hunger Games, also known as the Second Quarter Quell."
Fans of the series will remember that the Second Quarter Quell were the games that Haymitch Abernathy, Katniss' mentor in the original trilogy, won. So the story is likely to feature him heavily.
We can also guess that Coriolanus Snow will once again be a main character, continuing to follow his rise as we did in The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.
The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping cast
Again, it seems safe to assume that the new movie will feature Coriolanus Snow, but the time jump that is set to take place between The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes and Sunrise on the Reaping makes it unlikely that Tom Blyth would reprise the role. As it is also a prequel, don’t expect Donald Sutherland to reprise the role he played in the original movies.
As for Haymitch, seeing as during this period he would have been a teenager, Woody Harrelson won't be reprising the role either (barring a flashforward). So some new young actor will take over the role of Haymitch.
What other characters may be involved and who may play them remains a mystery.
The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping trailer
There is no trailer for The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping at this time, and it’ll likely be a while before one does become available. But when that time does come, we'll add it right here.
The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping director
A director for The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping has not been made official, but it was shared in the announcement of the movie that Francis Lawrence was in talks to direct. Lawrence has directed each Hunger Games movie since The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, so it would bring a nice bit of continuity if he were to return for this next addition.
Outside of the Hunger Games movies, Lawrence has directed Constantine (2005), I Am Legend (2007), Water for Elephants (2011), Red Sparrow (2018) and Slumberland (2022).
