Hunger Games: Sunrise On The Reaping’s Filming Start Window Revealed As Casting Is Underway

Director Francis Lawrence shares new details about the upcoming Hunger Games movie, Sunrise on the Reaping, at CinemaCon. After the four successful installments chronicling Katniss Everdeen’s story and the Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes prequel movie, another Hunger Games prequel is set to arrive next November. This one, once again based on a novel by Suzanne Collins, takes place during the 50th Hunger Games and follows a young Haymitch Abernathy as he competes. Though Woody Harrelson played an older Haymitch in the previous Hunger Games movies, the Sunrise on the Reaping cast will include a younger actor in the part.

Recently, at Cinema Con 2025, where ScreenRant was in attendance, the studio provided new details about Sunrise on the Reaping, including information about the Haymitch casting. Though it’s not clear who has been cast in the lead role, Lawrence confirms that casting is now well underway and that filming will begin this summer. Read Lawrence’s comments below:

We’re deep into casting and I leave on Sunday to go prep. We start shooting this July.

After The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes took a new storytelling approach, Lawrence teases that Sunrise on the Reaping will be a return to the franchise’s roots:

“As much as I love Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, this film is more of a return to form.”

What This Means For Sunrise On The Reaping

When Could Promotional Materials Release?


Woody Harrelson as Haymitch looking forward in The Hunger Games Catching Fire

With filming set to start in July, it makes sense that the casting process is ongoing and potentially nearing its conclusion, at least for key roles. It’s likely that reports and official cast announcements will arrive over the next few months. After Harrelson played Haymitch across the four Katniss-focused Hunger Games movies, this will be the character audiences most anticipate casting for, and, whoever is chosen, it could end up being a divisive decision. Franchise producer Nina Jacobson recently addressed the young Haymitch casting in an interview with Variety, revealing what they’re looking for in a star:

[…] What we’re looking for in that role is, you don’t want somebody who’s impersonating Woody, but you want somebody who very credibly feels like they could be a young version of this character, before the trauma and grief and rage that the fallout of the Games create.

Nobody can be Woody Harrelson but Woody Harrelson. But you have to find that mischief that he has in him inherently and try to understand, if you turn back time from the man you meet at the beginning of “The Hunger Games,” who he was before all of that, and why he became that.

A trailer for Sunrise on the Reaping won’t be arriving until next year given the film’s November release date, but Lawrence and the movie’s cast members could provide first looks at characters, locations, and sets on social media starting in July. Social media plays a crucial role in the pre-trailer hype for a movie these days, especially when stars have large followings on social media.

Our Take On The Sunrise On The Reaping Update

The New Prequel Could Surpᴀss The Ballad Of Songbirds & Snakes


Woody Harrelson holding up a knife as Haymitch Abernathy in The Hunger Games

Sunrise on the Reaping is still a long ways away, but the mᴀssive success of Collins’ novel suggests there is a great deal of anticipation surrounding the film already, even at this very early stage. Decisions, especially those regarding casting, are sure to be heavily scrutinized. This means there is likely a lot of pressure on Lawrence, but there is sure to be pressure on the younger actor who ends up being cast as Haymitch, too.

THR recently revealed that Sunrise on the Reaping sold three times as many copies as Mockingjay during its first week of sales in the U.S., and twice as many as The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.

After Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes reviews were somewhat lukewarm from critics, the next movie marking a “return to form,” as Lawrence says, could be a promising sign. Despite a mixed reception, though, the prequel was a box office success, and it seems likely that audiences will show up for this new installment regardless of what reviews end up being like. For now, though, those looking for more of the franchise on the big screen have a while to wait as The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping approaches production.

Source: Lionsgate

Related Posts

The Western Movie Gunslinger Who May Be Even Faster Than Clint Eastwood’s Man With No Name

The Western Movie Gunslinger Who May Be Even Faster Than Clint Eastwood’s Man With No Name

The Trinity movies feature a character who could rival Clint Eastwood’s The Man With No Name for the тιтle of the fastest gun in the West. Sergio…

Sovereign Review: I Was Speechless After Nick Offerman & Jacob Tremblay’s Disquieting True Story Crime Thriller

Sovereign Review: I Was Speechless After Nick Offerman & Jacob Tremblay’s Disquieting True Story Crime Thriller

When a movie dramatizes a real tragedy, there needs to be care and tact put into how it presents itself. From dramas to thrillers based on true…

Disney’s Remake Of A 3 Million Phenomenon Comes Out 1 Year From Now

Disney’s Remake Of A $643 Million Phenomenon Comes Out 1 Year From Now

Disney live-action remakes tend to be made years, if not decades, after the original’s release. From Snow White‘s live-action remake, which was released 88 years after the…

How Dean Cain Became The Least Popular Superman

How Dean Cain Became The Least Popular Superman

Dean Cain has returned to the spotlight again after the release of James Gunn’s Superman, and the online reaction makes it clear just how unpopular he’s become….

The Fantastic Four: First Steps Has Already Fixed These 9 Mistakes From 2015’s Fantastic Four Before It’s Even Released

The Fantastic Four: First Steps Has Already Fixed These 9 Mistakes From 2015’s Fantastic Four Before It’s Even Released

The Fantastic Four: First Steps has not even been released yet, but it’s already fixed these nine big issues with 2015’s Fantastic Four. The latter counts as…

Kurt Russell’s Sci-Fi Bomb Was Actually A Stealth Remake Of An Era-Defining Western

Kurt Russell’s Sci-Fi Bomb Was Actually A Stealth Remake Of An Era-Defining Western

Kurt Russell’s cult favorite Soldier was a bomb back in 1998, and also acted as a remake of a beloved Western. There aren’t that many Kurt Russell…