Hunger Games Movies: Every Film in the Franchise

The Hunger Games movies follow Katniss Everdeen, a young hunter from District 12, a poor mining district of Panem, who volunteers to take her younger sister Primrose's place in a televised fight to the death. Every year the Capitol forces each district to send one boy and one girl to the Hunger Games, and the baker's son Peeta Mellark is chosen alongside her. That opening sets up a saga about spectacle, survival and rebellion, released by Lionsgate.

How many films are there, and which ones count? There are five. The four main films are the hunger games 2012, directed by Gary Ross, followed by catching fire, mockingjay part 1 and mockingjay part 2, all directed by Francis Lawrence. The fifth, ballad of songbirds and snakes, is a prequel spinoff, also directed by Lawrence. For the short version of the count, see how many hunger games movies are there.

The first film, The Hunger Games (2012), introduces the reaping, the Capitol makeover and the arena. Katniss and Peeta travel to the Capitol, where they are styled for the cameras and coached by their drunken mentor Haymitch Abernathy, a past winner. It cost $78 million to make and earned $695 million worldwide, according to Box Office Mojo.

Catching Fire picks up after the victors return to District 12. President Snow warns Katniss that her defiance has stirred unrest, and he orders her and Peeta to play a devoted couple on a Victory Tour. Gale Hawthorne is publicly whipped after trying to stop Peacekeepers from beating people, so the trouble at home is no longer a private matter. Francis Lawrence took over as director, the budget rose to $130 million, and the film earned about $870 million worldwide, the highest total in the series.

Mockingjay Part 1 and Mockingjay Part 2 leave the arena behind. Katniss is taken to District 13, a hidden underground base run by President Coin, where the strategist Plutarch Heavensbee wants her to become the Mockingjay, the public face of the uprising. Part 2 follows the push on District 2 and a hand picked unit, with Gale, Finnick and Peeta, sent to film propaganda near the front. The two parts were shot back to back, with budgets of $125 million and $160 million and worldwide grosses of $762 million and $684 million.

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes goes backward instead. It takes place about ten years after the First Rebellion and more than sixty years before the original Hunger Games, and it follows Coriolanus Snow (Tom Blyth), a student from a once wealthy Capitol family, who mentors Lucy Gray Baird (Rachel Zegler), the tribute from District 12 in the 10th Hunger Games. At 157 minutes it is the longest film in the series, and it earned $364 million worldwide on a $100 million budget.

If you want more than the overview, the hunger games timeline places each story in order, hunger games box office breaks down every gross, and the hunger games soundtrack covers the scores by James Newton Howard, who composed all five films. For the story behind the setting, see the hunger games districts, and hunger games books vs movies covers the comparison with the source books. Collectors can start with hunger games merchandise.

In the US, all five Hunger Games movies stream on Hulu and on the Lionsgate+ Amazon Channel, and they are free with ads on Tubi and Fandango at Home Free, according to JustWatch data on TMDB checked on November 3, 2026. The picture differs by country, and the full table by film is on where to watch hunger games.

The UK is the one market where the prequel is harder to find. The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes was listed there only to rent or buy, through Apple TV, Rakuten TV, Amazon Video, Sky Store and YouTube. Amazon Video, Apple TV and YouTube rent or sell every film in all three countries, which is the safest fallback when a streaming deal ends.

Sunrise on the Reaping has not reached streaming because it has not yet opened. Lionsgate describes the release as in theaters and IMAX from November 20, 2026. Streaming lines change often, so check the service before you plan a marathon.