It looks like we’re heading back to Panem—again. Lionsgate just dropped the first trailer for The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping, and it’s shaping up to be the franchise’s most intense return yet.
Photo: Lionsgate Movies
After Suzanne Collins released The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes in 2020, it didn’t take long for the story to hit the big screen. With that movie turning into a solid success, the studio naturally kept the momentum going.
Earlier this year, Collins followed up with another prequel, Sunrise on the Reaping, and now its film adaptation is officially underway.
Set decades after Songbirds & Snakes, the new prequel zooms in on a young Haymitch Abernathy—yes, the same Haymitch played by Woody Harrelson in the original films. This time, he’s portrayed by Joseph Zada as he enters the 50th Hunger Games.
The twist? This Quarter Quell involves 48 tributes instead of the usual 24. As Glenn Close’s Drusilla Sickle puts it in the trailer: “Twice the number of tributes, twice the glory.”
Fans will likely notice familiar names popping up in younger form, too.
Effie Trinket is played by Elle Fanning, while a young President Snow is portrayed by Jesse Plemons. The cast also includes McKenna Grace and Ben Wang as some of the fellow tributes Haymitch encounters—though based on how brutal this particular Games looks, “encounters” might be putting it lightly.
From the quick cuts alone, Sunrise on the Reaping seems to lean into a bigger scale and a harsher arena, signaling a rough ride for Haymitch and everyone trapped in the Capitol’s spectacle. But if the reception of the last prequel is any indication, Lionsgate is counting on audiences being ready for another trip into the Games.
The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping premieres next year, on November 20, 2026.
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