Get ready to return to the world of Panem.
Lionsgate has announced that it has greenlit an adaptation of Suzanne Collins’ forthcoming The Hunger Games novel, Sunrise on the Reaping, which was also announced today. (Yay, corporate synergy!)
The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping will revisit the world of Panem 24 years before the events of The Hunger Games, starting on the morning of the reaping of the 50th Hunger Games, also known as the Second Quarter Quell. Fans of the series will know that that is the Hunger Games that Haymitch Abernathy (played by Woody Harrelson) won. Good luck casting a young Woody, Hollywood!
“Suzanne Collins is a master storyteller and our creative north star,” said Adam Fogelson, chair of the Lionsgate Motion Picture Group. “We couldn’t be more fortunate than to be guided and trusted by a collaborator whose talent and imagination are so consistently brilliant. We know Hunger Games fans worldwide will be spellbound by where Suzanne has focused this next extraordinary story. The Second Quarter Quell is legendary and looms large over the history of the Games, even into the time of Katniss Everdeen a quarter-century later. Like fans around the globe, we are eagerly anticipating this exciting return to Panem.”
Franchise producer Nina Jacobson, alongside her producing partner Brad Simpson, will return to produce The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping under their Color Force banner. Francis Lawrence, who has helmed every entry but the first Hunger Games movie, is in talks to direct.
“From the beginning, Lionsgate has been a wonderful home and partner for the Hunger Games franchise, and I’m very excited to be collaborating with Adam and the team as we bring this next story to theaters in 2026,” said Suzanne Collins.
Sunrise on the Reaping will be published by Scholastic on March 18, 2025. The film adaptation will hit theaters roughly one-and-half-years later on November 20, 2026.
Will you be reading (and watching) Sunrise on the Reaping? Who should they cast as a young Haymitch Abernathy?
