The Hunger Games just proved that it can carry on without Jennifer Lawrence. The multimedia franchise was spawned by the dystopian young adult book trilogy of the same name by Suzanne Collins, which comprises The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, and Mockingjay, which were released from 2008 through 2010. They all take place in the futuristic nation Panem, which has been divided into districts. Annually, each district has two young people selected to compete in the ᴅᴇᴀᴅly Hunger Games, where only one victor is meant to survive. The main character is teenager Katniss Everdeen, who becomes a figurehead of the rebellion.

When it came time to make the Hunger Games movies, which converted the trilogy into a four-part film franchise that ran from 2012 through 2015, Lawrence was tapped to play Katniss. At the time, she was already a well-known actor, having been nominated for an Oscar for her performance in 2010’s Winter’s Bone. In the blockbuster franchise, she formed the center of a star-studded cast that also included Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Elizabeth Banks, Woody Harrelson, Donald Sutherland, Stanley Tucci, Jeffrey Wright, Mahershala Ali, Natalie Dormer, Wes Bentley, Sam Claflin, Jena Malone, Lenny Kravitz, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Julianne Moore.

Sunrise On The Reaping’s Success Means The Hunger Games Can Continue Without Katniss

The Book Is Already A Bestseller

Katniss is the most important character in the franchise, as she is central to both the political storyline about the rebellion against The Capitol and the romantic storyline about her being pulled between her fellow tribute Peeta (Hutcherson) and her best friend Gale (Hemsworth). However, the new Hunger Games book, the prequel Sunrise on the Reaping (which follows Katniss’ future mentor Haymitch Abernathy competing in the 50th Hunger Games), has proven that the franchise can find a way forward without Lawrence or Katniss, neither of whom have appeared onscreen in a new installment since Mockingjay – Part 2 debuted in 2015.

The book, which is the second prequel penned by Collins after 2020’s The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (which followed the origin of President Coriolanus Snow, played by Donald Sutherland in the original movies and by Tom Blyth in the 2023 film adaptation of the prequel), has already become a smash hit after hitting bookstore shelves in the United States, Canada, the U.K., Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand on March 18. Per The Hollywood Reporter, the English-language edition of Sunrise on the Reaping sold 1.5 million copies in its first week.

Sales in the United States made up 1.2 million of that overall total. In the domestic marketplace, Sunrise on the Reaping has outsold the first week of The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by a factor of two and the 2010 trilogy-capping installment Mockingjay by a factor of three. In addition to earning triple the book sales of one of the original installments, it has become the third-biggest bestseller of 2025 so far, behind only The Let Them Theory by Mel Robbins and Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros.

The Sunrise On The Reaping Movie Will Continue The Hunger Games’ Prequel Strategy

The Book Is Already Being Adapted Into A Movie

Sunrise on the Reaping cements the fact that Collins’ strategy for continuing the series is exploring the past of Panem and the goings-on of various previous versions of the Games. This ultimately makes more sense than writing another Hunger Games sequel following Katniss, as her story concluded in Mockingjay with her triumphing over the Capitol despite suffering major losses. That story also featured an epilogue set 20 years after the events of the trilogy, so there is not much room for further storytelling with Katniss that follows the same grandiose dystopian lines as the rest of the books.

This approach also seems to be working on the screen. A Sunrise on the Reaping movie is already in the works and set to premiere on November 20, 2026. Given the fact that the book sold twice as many copies in its first week as The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, it seems highly likely that the movie will outgross the Ballad adaptation.

The 2023 movie was only a modest success, grossing $349 million against its $100 million budget, which likely meant that its break-even point was somewhere around $250 million. However, if Sunrise doubles its box office, that could allow it to do what Ballad couldn’t and earn more than the lowest-grossing original Hunger Games movie, which was 2015’s Mockingjay – Part 2 ($653.4 million).

Ironically, Sunrise On The Reaping Sets Up The Perfect Way For Jennifer Lawrence To Return

The Book Features One Present-Day Scene

Although the success of the book showcases the fact that the series does not need to center on Katniss in order to captivate audiences, ironically, the Sunrise on the Reaping movie actually has the perfect opportunity to feature the return of Jennifer Lawrence. The novel features an epilogue set in the present day that marks the first time that the series has returned to that part of the Hunger Games timeline since Mockingjay. The surprising scene features the return of both Katniss and Peeta, allowing for both Lawrence and Hutcherson to briefly reprise their roles, should they wish to.

There’s A Problem – Not Every Hunger Games Character Is As Popular As Haymitch

The Timeline Makes Exploring More Characters Complicated

Although Sunrise on the Reaping has become a success, the fact that it centers on the character of Haymitch (who was portrayed onscreen as an adult by Woody Harrelson) could be one reason that it is doing so well. Katniss’ mentor is one of the most widely beloved Hunger Games characters, and his time in the arena is a period that is not explored very thoroughly in the original trilogy, as it took place more than two decades earlier. Unfortunately, this means that if Collins continues her efforts to explore other Games and characters, this may limit her future options.

While there are other major characters in The Hunger Games that have interesting stories, the majority are roughly the same age as Katniss, which would mean that their stories overlap in ways that the author does not seem keen to explore, having jumped many decades in the past with both Sunrise on the Reaping and The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. However, beyond penning a sequel to Ballad, it does not seem likely that Collins could continue the franchise this way on the page or on the screen without running out of compelling characters from the original trilogy to follow.

Source(s): THR

The Hunger Games

Created by

Suzanne Collins

First Film

The Hunger Games

Cast

Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Elizabeth Banks, Woody Harrelson, Stanley Tucci, Donald Sutherland, Lenny Kravitz, Willow Shields, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Rachel Zegler, Tom Blyth, Viola Davis, Peter Dinklage, Hunter Schafer, Jason Schwartzman

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