Greetings to District 13 – it’s been a big day for Hunger Games news. First came the information that author Suzanne Collins has penned a new book in her dystopian murder-fest series, entitled Sunrise On The Reaping, arriving in March 2025. And then, swiftly after, came the other update fans had been hoping for: a film adaptation is on the way, officially titled The Hunger Games: Sunrise On The Reaping. Yes, it’s time to head back into the arena, delving into a set of Games that has long been ripe for exploring.
Both Collins’ book and the film adaptation will be set in the realm of the 50th Hunger Games – 24 years before Katniss Everdeen became a tribute, and 40 years after Lucy Gray Baird competed in the 10th Hunger Games in The Ballad Of Songbirds And Snakes. And anyone entrenched in the world of Panem will know two things about that instantly: first, it’s a Quarter Quell, meaning a particularly brutal Games. That was the case, too, in Catching Fire, where former winners were forced back into the arena to compete for a second time; and we know from established lore that this particular Quarter Quell was a double-reaping, meaning 50 young contestants battled for survival. Secondly, we know who that survivor was: Haymitch Abernathy, Katniss’ District 12 mentor, played in the main franchise films by Woody Harrelson.
Just as Lionsgate confirmed a Ballad Of Songbirds And Snakes movie pretty much simultaneously with the announcement of Collins’ novel, the studio has revealed that Sunrise On The Reaping will be getting the big-screen treatment too – and it even has an official release date, set to hit cinemas on 20 November, 2026. Beyond that, there are no details yet – it remains to be seen who’ll be cast as young Haymitch, whether Harrelson might pop up in framing-narrative flash-forwards, or if regular director Francis Lawrence (who helmed every Hunger Games film barring the first, including Ballad) will be back.
Either way, get ready for more political allegory, more surprisingly brutal action (likely still to just about skirt under the 12 / PG-13 barrier), and a whole new era of Panem. We volunteer as audience members.