New ‘Hunger Games’ Film ‘Sunrise on the Reaping’ Announced with Release Date

Lionsgate has announced a new Hunger Games movie titled ‘The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping,’ along with its release date. The film will adapt Suzanne Collins‘s new Hunger Games novel, ‘Sunrise on the Reaping,’ set to release on March 18, 2025.

‘The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping’ is set 24 years before the Jennifer Lawrence films in the world of Panem. It starts on the morning of the reaping for the 50th Hunger Games, known as the Second Quarter Quell. Haymitch Abernathy, the only previous District 12 victor before Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark, won these games. He later becomes a mentor, played by Woody Harrelson in the original movies.

Francis Lawrence, the filmmaker behind the last four movies in the franchise, is in talks to direct ‘Sunrise on the Reaping’. The film will be produced by Nina Jacobson and her producing partner Brad Simpson, who are returning to produce under their Color Force banner. See the poster below.

In a statement, Collins said, “With Sunrise on the Reaping, I was inspired by David Hume’s idea of implicit submission and, in his words, ‘the easiness with which the many are governed by the few…The story also lent itself to a deeper dive into the use of propaganda and the power of those who control the narrative. The question ‘Real or not real?’ seems more pressing to me every day.”

Collins continued, “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.”

Lionsgate Motion Picture Group Chair Adam Fogelson said, “Suzanne Collins is a master storyteller and our creative north star.” Fogelson added, “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.”

‘Sunrise on the Reaping’ will be published by Scholastic simultaneously in print, digital, and audio formats in the US, Canada, the UK and Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand on March 18, 2025.

Meredith Wieck and Scott O’Brien will oversee the production on behalf of Lionsgate. Patricia Laucella and Phil Strina handled the rights for the book for Lionsgate. Collins was represented by Jason Dravis from The Dravis Agency, and Diane Golden and Sarah Lerner from the law firm Katz Golden Lerner LLP.

When is the Release Date?

‘The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping’ will hit theaters on November 20, 2026, by Warner Bros. Pictures.

Source: Entertainment Weekly