Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping — Cast, Release Date, Trailer — SkimNews
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- Lionsgate has set the Suzanne Collins adaptation 'The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping' for a November 20, 2026 theatrical release, with a teaser trailer dropping November 20, 2025, a fuller trailer in April 2026, and another in mid-September 2026 ahead of release.
- Joseph Zada (of Prime Video's 'We Were Liars') has been cast as a young Haymitch Abernathy — the role Woody Harrelson originated — opposite Whitney Peak as his love interest Lenore Dove Baird and McKenna Grace as fellow District 12 tribute Maysilee Donner.
- Ralph Fiennes steps into the role of President Snow, following the late Donald Sutherland and Tom Blyth; Glenn Close plays District 12 escort Drusilla Sickle, Jesse Plemons takes over Plutarch Heavensbee from the late Philip Seymour Hoffman, Elle Fanning plays a younger Effie Trinket, and Kelvin Harrison Jr., Maya Hawke, and Lili Taylor portray Beetee, Wiress, and Mags respectively.
- Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson will return as Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark in the fifth film, marking a reunion with the franchise that made them stars, while Billy Porter joins as District 12 designer Magno Stift.
- Noah Kahan wrote 'Draw You Out' as the lead single for the film's companion album, with Lizzie McAlpine and Hozier attached to additional soundtrack titles, according to the source.
- Francis Lawrence, who directed 'The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes' and three of the original four films, will direct from a screenplay by Billy Ray, who adapted the very first 'Hunger Games' film.
- The story covers Haymitch's 50th Hunger Games — a Quarter Quell that doubled the tribute count to 48 players by requiring four tributes per district, the largest arena in the franchise's lore.
Why it matters: The November 20, 2026 release marks Lionsgate's second prequel in the Hunger Games universe and the first to reunite Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson with the franchise since 2015's 'Mockingjay Part 2' — a nostalgia play aimed at the original trilogy's audience now in their twenties. With Francis Lawrence directing (his fifth film in the series) and a 48-tribute Quarter Quell as the largest arena yet, the film scales up the franchise's signature spectacle while filling in Haymitch's backstory.
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