Less than a year after the premiere of The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, a brand-new installment in the franchise has been announced with the reveal of The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping. Beginning with the 2008 publication of Suzanne Collins’ dystopian YA novel, The Hunger Games, the series concerns the post-apocalyptic land of Panem. In this world, each district must send representatives to compete in the annual Hunger Games compeтιтion in which they must fight to the death against the teams from other districts.
Collins’ original trilogy of Hunger Games novels was quickly adapted into a blockbuster film franchise starring Jennifer Lawrence, and they were tentpole films throughout the early 2010s. The most recent film in the series, The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, took fans back over 60 years before the events of the first novel and chronicled the rise of Panem’s notorious dictator, Coriolanus Snow. Now, Collins is returning to pen The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping, another prequel novel that has already landed a film adaptation deal with Lionsgate.
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The Hunger Games: Sunrise On The Reaping Latest News
A Development Update On The Hunger Games Prequel
Several months after it was confirmed that the new movie will follow a young Haymitch, the latest news comes as a development update on The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping. Franchise director Francis Lawrence offered some new details about the prequel’s development in the months before the тιтular novel is published. Explaining the challenges of developing a film based on an as-yet-unpublished book, Lawrence also revealed that filming will begin in 2025 after development starts in earnest in April.
Read Lawrence’s full comments here:
Yeah, I’m shooting that this year. So we’ve actually just sort of started prep. The book comes out mid-March. We’ve sort of got a research phase of prep. After London, I’m going to go on a scout, and then we start prepping in April, and we shoot this year.
I will say it’s, like, it’s tricky because, you know, the book’s not out, so only people know generally what it’s about. I think there was an excerpt that was put out, and Suzanne maybe has a quote out there about what the thematics are. So we’re, like, we’re researching a little, but yeah, like, we can’t put, you know, scenes out or anything like that, yet.
Based on what the director has said, Sunrise on the Reaping will probably have a pretty quick turnaround. If pre-production only really starts in April 2025, it’s going to be quite a feat to get the ball rolling by the end of the year. However, with the movie scheduled to arrive in the latter months of 2026, there will be plenty of time for production and post-production.
The Hunger Games: Sunrise On The Reaping Release Date
The Hunger Games Return In 2026
Though it is a ways off, Lionsgate announced a release date on the same day that the company revealed they would be adapting Suzanne Collins’ latest book. Coming slightly more than a year after the release of the book of the same name, The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping will debut in theaters on November 20, 2026. However, with a release date so far off, it’s always possible that some shuffling could occur over the next few years that displaces it from its originally scheduled slot.
The novel of the same name is due to hit shelves on March 18, 2025.
Who Is Making The Hunger Games: Sunrise On The Reaping?
Familiar Faces Behind The Scenes
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Hunger Games Movie |
Release Year |
Rotten Tomatoes Score |
|---|---|---|
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The Hunger Games |
2012 |
84% |
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The Hunger Games: Catching Fire |
2013 |
90% |
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The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 |
2014 |
69% |
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The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 |
2015 |
69% |
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The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes |
2023 |
64% |
While a cast is likely not going to be revealed for quite some time, The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping does have a few familiar names behind the scenes. Obviously, the film is to be based on Collins’ eponymous novel, and she will likely have some small involvement with the script. However, it is confirmed that franchise director Francis Lawrence will once again return to helm the movie, and Lawrence has directed every Hunger Games тιтle since 2013’s Catching Fire. Producers Nina Jacobson and Brad Simpson will also be on hand to oversee the production once again.
What Is The Hunger Games: Sunrise On The Reaping About?
A Young Haymitch Competes In The Hunger Games
the story will be set 40 years before the events of the first Hunger Games novel and will likely follow Haymitch Abernathy, who wins that year’s Hunger Games.
Much like its immediate predecessor, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping will be another prequel. This time, the story will be set 40 years before the events of the first Hunger Games novel and will follow Haymitch Abernathy, who wins that year’s Hunger Games. The relative closeness to the original franchise opens the door for several of the series’ adult characters to return in their younger forms, but more details won’t be known until the novel is published in 2025.
