The Sunrise on the Reaping movie will face a difficult adaptation challenge. The newest Hunger Games book, written by Suzanne Collins, follows Haymitch Abernathy during the second Quarter Quell. The 50th Hunger Games comes with the sadistic twist of there being twice as many tributes, meaning that instead of two per district and 24 in total, four individuals are reaped in every district for a total of 48 tributes. While Haymitch is known to be the sole winner of these Games, the novel tells the full story of his victory and the extensive heartbreak that surrounds it.

A Sunrise on the Reaping movie has also been greenlit, with the adaptation of the prequel scheduled to debut in theaters on November 20, 2026. Francis Lawrence, who has directed every Hunger Games movie since Catching Fire, will direct the upcoming film. While Sunrise on the Reaping has the potential to be one of the dystopian franchise’s best movies yet, it will have a significant challenge that differs from the previous adaptations.

Sunrise On The Reaping Will Need To Be Rated R To Do The Book Justice

It Is The Hunger Games’ Darkest Book Yet

As the darkest, most violent, and most brutal Hunger Games book yet, Sunrise on the Reaping needs to receive an R rating in order to do the source material justice. One of the major Sunrise on the Reaping deaths is a character being attacked by muttations that leave behind nothing but bones that have been picked clean after tearing the body apart. Another key death involves a character putting their face next to some poisonous flowers, which causes blood to pour out of their eyes, nose, and mouth as they die.

The heightened brutality is integral to the story and to transforming Haymitch into the character that audiences know from the original Hunger Games books and movies. Change is always inevitable in book-to-screen adaptations. However, in order to make Sunrise on the Reaping receive a PG-13 rating like all the franchise’s previous movies, the adaptation would have to make many changes that risk altering the source material beyond the point of recognition. The movie’s audience will largely be those who have already read the book, and it will be disappointing if the film strays too far from it.

An R Rating Could Lose Out On The Hunger Games’ YA Audience

The YA Audience Has Been Pivotal To The Hunger Games’ Success

The Hunger Games books and movies largely became a popular culture phenomenon because of how enthusiastically the young adult audience responded to them. This is part of the reason why all the movies have been rated PG-13, as an R rating would make the adaptations less accessible to the target audience. Sometimes this meant not showing the full extent of the bloodshed at the Cornucopia when the Games began, or leaving other horrors to happen offscreen.

If the decision is made to give Sunrise on the Reaping an R rating, though, the movie will be less accessible to the franchise’s key demographic. This would be a substantial risk to take, especially after The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes‘ box office was the lowest in franchise history. From a financial standpoint, the goal is for Sunrise on the Reaping to reach the franchise’s previous box office heights, which is a feat that may be more difficult to achieve with an R rating, especially without the young adult audience.

Gambling On An R Rating Is Worthwhile For Another Important Reason

The Key Demographic Has Shifted

While an R rating does come with inherent risk, such a gamble may pay off when considering that The Hunger Games‘ target audience has now changed. The young adults who grew up with the franchise and who have remained fans of it are now adults. Adults are now the primary audience who have kept the franchise alive with their enthusiastic responses to The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes and to Sunrise on the Reaping. It is also the adults who are going to care the most about whether the Sunrise on the Reaping movie faithfully adapts the book.

As such, it may make the most sense to give the movie an R rating, as it will not exclude the franchise’s current target audience. In this scenario, the movie could still perform well at the box office while also being a faithful adaptation that does not cheapen the tragic and brutal story of Haymitch and the second Quarter Quell. Now that the book has been released, more details about the Sunrise on the Reaping movie will continue to emerge, and that will hopefully include an R rating.