The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping is the upcoming adaptation of Suzanne Collins’ latest Hunger Games prequel, which takes place several decades before the original trilogy and explores the early years of Haymitch Abernathy, the eventual mentor of Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark. The book has been met with overwhelmingly positive reviews, with many critics praising the way Sunrise on the Reaping reframes moments from The Hunger Games. It’s not just a cash-grab, but rather a very necessary prequel that helps expand this universe in ways that feel earned and important.

Incidentally, it’s been announced that the budget for Sunrise on the Reaping may be the largest of the entire franchise. This is huge news, and not least because the original trilogy already had significant budgets; the last two entries both exceeded $100m, with Mockingjay Part 2 going as high as $160m. This means that Sunrise on the Reaping’s budget could potentially reach $200m, which would be a huge cinematic achievement. However, there’s a clear reason why this movie would need lots of money to bring the story to life: it’s perhaps the boldest and grandest narrative of the whole series.

Sunrise On The Reaping’s Story Requires One Of Hunger Games’ Bigger Budgets

Haymitch’s Story Features Some Huge Moments That Won’t Be Easily Brought To Screen

To those who’ve already read Suzanne Collins’ “Sunrise on the Reaping”, the large budget for the movie adaptation shouldn’t come as a big surprise. The story is among the biggest, boldest, and most ambitious entries in the franchise so far, exploring the games themselves in huge amounts of detail, with several major set pieces along the way. Haymitch’s arena is particularly grand and impressive due to the fact that it’s the second Quarter Quell, and this needs to be reflected on-screen.

The excess wealth that the Capitol is willing to spend on these games, in contrast to the downfall and poverty of District 12, is one of Sunrise on the Reaping’s most compelling subplots, and this can only be captured through a large budget. Whereas The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes had a relatively small arena because it was so early in the games’ existence, this needs to be the complete opposite – the film must put the audience in Haymitch’s shoes, overwhelming them with the Capitol’s wealth and inciting them to join the rebellion.

While it’s ultimately down to the reader which Hunger Games prequel is the best, there’s no denying that “Sunrise on the Reaping” certainly has the highest stakes and the most relevance to the original trilogy. The upcoming adaptation needs to recreate the grand scale of the existing movies to remind viewers what’s at stake – not just for Haymitch in the arena, but also in terms of the rebellion in general and how it relates to Katniss’ story.

Sunrise On The Reaping’s Budget Could Be A Risk After Songbirds & Snakes’ Box Office

The Most Recent Prequel Was A Box Office Success

Although The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes performed well at the box office, there will be an even greater responsibility riding on the shoulders of Sunrise on the Reaping, given the increased budget. The previous film managed to collect $349m worldwide on a budget of approximately $100m – if the next movie increases the budget to $150m or even $200m, there will be a looming expectation that the box office performance will need to increase accordingly.

While it’s certainly possible that Sunrise on the Reaping could manage $500m at the box office, it doesn’t seem logical to rest the whole project’s success on that expectation. Every other movie in the main series managed to cross this threshold, but I’m not convinced there’s enough anticipation for this prequel among general audiences – though I’m hoping to be proven wrong.