It's official. Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson are all set to return to their home turf, reprising their roles as Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark in the The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping, a prequel set 24 years before the events of The Hunger Games (2012-2015). The upcoming film from Lionsgate, will hit theatres on November 20, 2026.
According to reports, the leading pair will appear in a flash forward in the film. However, details regarding the same is currently unknown. The duo headlined all The Hunger Games original films and their characters played a crucial role in toppling the brutal regime in a major war where President Snow gets killed. Towards the end of the films, they were seen having babies of their own and living a content life.
In the new film Sunrise on the Reaping, Joseph Zada and Whitney Peak play the leads Haymitch Abernathy and his girlfriend Lenore Dove Baird, Mckenna Grace as Maysilee Donner, Ralph Fiennes as the sinister President Snow, Jesse Plemons as Plutarch Heavensbee, Kieran Culkin as Caesar Flickerman, Elle Fanning as Effie Trinket.
Directed by Francis Lawrence, the cast also includes Molly McCann as Louella, Iona Bell as Lou Lou, Maya Hawke as Wiress, Kelvin Harrison Jr. as Beetee, Jhaleil Swaby as Panache, Glenn Close as Drusilla Sickle, Billy Porter as her estranged husband, Lili Taylor as Mags and Ben Wang as Wyatt.
The film's events are set during the Second Quarter Quell (50th Hunger Games), it will centre on Haymitch Abernathy, portrayed by Woody Harrelson in the original Hunger Games movies and how he competes in the games with 48 children as tributes. It is a sequel to 2023’s The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, which starred Rachel Zegler, Tom Blyth and Hunter Schafer.
Francis Lawrence has helmed every Hunger Games installment since 2012’s Catching Fire. Billy Ray, who has co-written the original trilogy, has written the screenplay for the film.
