Summary
- Director Francis Lawrence announced filming for The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping will begin this year.
- The sequel focuses on Haymitch’s background and his traumatic experiences before winning the 50th Hunger Games.
- Fans can expect a deep dive into Haymitch’s character, his survival skills, and his fury towards the Capitol.
Another Hunger Games movie is on the way and the director just shared a positive update about the project. Francis Lawrence shared when they would start filming Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping.
The Hunger Games franchise was based on Suzanne Collins’ books. There have already been five movies released — The Hunger Games (2012), Catching Fire (2013), Mockingjay – Part 1 (2014) and Mockingjay – Part 2 (2015) and the prequel The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes (2023). The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping is an upcoming sequel announced on June 6, 2023, and the book will be released on March 18, 2025. An accompanying film has been greenlit, and fans need not wait long to watch the events on the big screen.
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Director Francis Lawrence, who will be helming the upcoming Hunger Games prequel, shared some details about the anticipated project The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping focuses on Haymitch Abernathy (Woody Harrelson), who served as a mentor for the District 12 tributes, Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) and Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson). Lawrence, who loves the franchise and has directed four of the five movies, is eager to return to Panem and excited to get the cameras rolling. He shared the timeline of the project and when they would start filming. “Yeah, I’m shooting that this year,” Lawrence told Collider. “So we’ve actually just sort of started prep. The book comes out mid-March. We’ve sort of got a research phase of prep. After London, I’m going to go on a scout, and then we start prepping in April, and we shoot this year.”
Among the things Lawrence was looking forward to in the project was working with producer Nina Jacobson and the author Collins. The filmmaker was enthusiastic about reuniting with the duo again for the project. He also complimented Collins’ creativity for penning such impressive books. “I’m really, really excited for it. It’s always great to go back and to work with Nina [Jacobson] and Suzanne Collins.” he added. “It’s such a great world and great stories and great, always super relevant thematics, which always ground it. But, yeah, very, very excited.” Although the director already has a timeline as to when they will begin shooting, he adds that the process is a bit “tricky” and they are still in the early stages of development since the book hasn’t been released yet. According to him, they were doing their research because “we can’t put, you know, scenes out or anything like that, yet.” The director didn’t give an update about the casting. Fans have been wondering who will play the lead character, the younger version of Haymitch, as it’s unlikely for the production to de-age Harrelson to play the character.
The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping has a promising plot because it features Haymitch, a complicated but fan-favorite character. Even if he is cynical, drunk and grumpy, he plays a pivotal role in Katniss and Peeta’s victory in the Hunger Games. Also, the upcoming book and film are expected to highlight Haymitch’s background and explain why he became a bitter and alcoholic mentor. It’s exciting to learn about his demeanor and personality before he competed and won the 50th Hunger Games (Quarter Quells), which obviously left him traumatized.
Haymitch was the only tribute from District 12 who survived before Katniss and Peeta, and he witnessed every tribute he mentored die before the duo for over 20 years, fueling his fury towards the Capitol. It’s also stimulating to see how Haymitch fought and won the Hunger Games using his intelligence and survival skills since he was only a teenager when he was forced to join the competition. Expectations are high for the upcoming book and film, especially following the success of the first prequel, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (2020). With Lawrence’s statement, fans can expect more updates about the movie in the upcoming months, including the casting of the lead role.
The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping will hit theaters on November 20, 2026.
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Source: Collider