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Still from The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2 (2015)
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Sunrise on the Reaping: The Next Hunger Games Movie

Sunrise on the Reaping, the next Hunger Games movie, opens in US theaters and IMAX on November 20, 2026, according to TheWrap's report of a Lionsgate post. Francis Lawrence directs and Joseph Zada plays Haymitch Abernathy.

Post production · November 20, 2026 (US)
Image: The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2, TMDB

Sunrise on the Reaping Release Date by Country

MarketReleaseSource
USNovember 20, 2026confirmedthewrap.com
UKNovember 20, 2026confirmedthewrap.com
AUTBCtbcthewrap.com

The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping has a confirmed US release date of November 20, 2026, and TMDB lists the same date for the UK. TheWrap carried the US date in its June 2024 announcement story and again in its April 13, 2026 trailer story, which quotes a Lionsgate post saying the film arrives in theaters and IMAX on November 20, 2026. Neither story mentions a date change, so the date appears to be unchanged since the original announcement.

The UK date comes from TMDB, which also lists a 12A rating, and it is reported rather than confirmed. No source gives an Australian release date yet, so that market stays open. Every earlier film in the series, from The Hunger Games (2012) to The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, opened in Australia one day before the US, but that is a pattern and not a date.

The reporting names no on sale date for tickets and no premiere city or venue, so any premiere location you see elsewhere is unconfirmed. For context, Catching Fire premiered in London on November 11, 2013, and The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes premiered at the BFI IMAX in London on November 9, 2023, but neither says anything about this film.

Is There a New Hunger Games Movie in 2026?

Yes, there is a new Hunger Games movie: The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping is due in US theaters on November 20, 2026. Lionsgate announced the film on June 6, 2024, with Francis Lawrence then in talks to direct, and TheWrap's coverage from that announcement through its April 2026 trailer story mentions no change to the date. Filming began on August 6, 2025, when Lionsgate shared an Instagram video, as ABC News Radio reported. A full trailer followed in April 2026, and it can be watched on the sunrise on the reaping trailer page.

Like every earlier film, it returns to Panem, the nation of districts where the Games are held. The title is shared with a Suzanne Collins novel, and the film is written for the screen by Billy Ray. Joseph Zada plays Haymitch Abernathy, the mentor Woody Harrelson played in the original films. The series stands at four main films and one prequel spin-off before this one arrives, and hunger games movies lists them all. If you want the question answered by count, how many hunger games movies are there has the numbers.

Who Is in the Sunrise on the Reaping Cast?

Five actors are confirmed in the Sunrise on the Reaping cast: Joseph Zada, Whitney Peak, Jesse Plemons, Glenn Close and Billy Porter. Lionsgate announced Zada and Peak as the leads on April 23, 2025, with Zada as Haymitch Abernathy and Peak as Lenore Dove Baird. Jesse Plemons followed two days later as Plutarch Heavensbee, the character Philip Seymour Hoffman played in Catching Fire and both Mockingjay films.

On June 16, 2025, TheWrap reported Glenn Close as Drusilla Sickle and Billy Porter as Magno Stift, and both are confirmed. Mckenna Grace is reported as Maysilee Donner, and Lili Taylor is reported in an unnamed role, both through TheWrap. The reporting gives the surname Donner, and no source states how that character relates to Haymitch Abernathy or to the name Maysilee Abernathy.

Behind the camera, Francis Lawrence directs. He previously directed Catching Fire, Mockingjay Part 1, Mockingjay Part 2 and The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, so this is his fifth Hunger Games film. Billy Ray writes the screenplay, Nina Jacobson and Brad Simpson produce, and James Newton Howard is reported to return as composer, per Film Music Reporter. He scored every earlier film, as the hunger games soundtrack page lists. Earlier casts are on hunger games cast.

Announced cast. Confirmed means announced by the studio; reported means a trade report the studio has not confirmed.

Are Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson in Sunrise on the Reaping?

Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson are reported to return, but the return is not confirmed. On December 11, 2025, Variety Australia reported that both are expected to appear, with Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen and Hutcherson as Peeta Mellark. A report of an expected return is weaker than an announcement, so treat both names as reported until Lionsgate says otherwise.

The same Variety Australia report lists further names as reported, not confirmed: Elle Fanning as Effie Trinket, Ralph Fiennes as Coriolanus Snow and Kieran Culkin as Caesar Flickerman. Kelvin Harrison Jr., Maya Hawke, Ben Wang, Molly McCann, Iona Bell and Percy Daggs IV are also named, without characters.

Reported casting is a name published by a trade outlet without a matching studio announcement in the coverage. If you follow the older characters, effie trinket hunger games and coriolanus snow show who played them before.

The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping Trailers and Trailer Songs

The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping: Official Trailer 2 (2026)
The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping: Official Trailer (2026)

Song in the The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping trailer

  • Love, Reign O'er Me · The Who Licensed
The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping: Official Teaser (2025)

What to Watch Before Sunrise on the Reaping

  1. 1The Hunger Games (2012) theatrical posterThe Hunger Games (2012)Introduces Haymitch Abernathy, the drunken mentor and past winner who coaches Katniss and Peeta.
  2. 2The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013) theatrical posterThe Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013)The Quarter Quell draws its tributes from past victors, and Peeta volunteers in place of Haymitch.
  3. 3The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes (2023) theatrical posterThe Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes (2023)Young Snow mentors Lucy Gray Baird, and the new film adds a character named Lenore Dove Baird.

Short on time? You can skip The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2.

The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping: The Story So FarSpoilers

Watch The Hunger Games (2012) and Catching Fire (2013) before Sunrise on the Reaping, because both films build up Haymitch Abernathy. In the first film, Katniss and Peeta travel to the Capitol and are coached by their drunken mentor Haymitch, a past winner of the Games.

Catching Fire turns the spotlight on the victors. President Snow announces the 75th Games, a special Quarter Quell in which every tribute comes from the pool of past victors. Katniss is the only living female victor from District 12, and Peeta volunteers to go in place of Haymitch. By the end, Katniss wakes beside Haymitch, Finnick, Beetee and Plutarch Heavensbee, heading to District 13 and a full rebellion.

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (2023) is worth a watch for Snow and for the Baird name. Coriolanus Snow is a poor but ambitious Capitol student who mentors Lucy Gray Baird, the District 12 tribute in the 10th Hunger Games, and later betrays her. Sunrise on the Reaping casts a character named Lenore Dove Baird, although no source has said how the two are connected.

Mockingjay Part 1 and Part 2 can wait until after the new film. They follow the war in the districts rather than an arena, and they finish the story of Katniss instead of Haymitch.

Where Sunrise on the Reaping Sits in the Hunger Games Timeline

Neither Lionsgate nor the trade coverage has said where Sunrise on the Reaping sits in the story order, so its place in the timeline is not yet established. Nor has any source stated which Games the film shows, so anything said about a 50th Hunger Games is unconfirmed. What is established is that The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is set about ten years after the First Rebellion and more than sixty years before the original Hunger Games, which makes it the earliest story on screen so far. Haymitch is the mentor Katniss and Peeta meet in the hunger games 2012, and Zada plays him here.

In my opinion, the best path for a newcomer is release order, as set out in hunger games movies in order. Watching ballad of songbirds and snakes first has a point, since it comes first in chronological order, and the hunger games timeline covers the full story in order.

It could be argued that the reported casting of Ralph Fiennes as Snow is the most interesting thread, because Donald Sutherland played him in the original films and Tom Blyth played the young Snow in Ballad. That remains a report. Lenore Dove Baird is the name to watch among the confirmed cast: Lucy Gray Baird appears in Ballad, and the lucy gray baird page covers her. No source says how the two characters are connected. For Haymitch himself, see haymitch hunger games. To compare the Suzanne Collins novels with the adaptations, read hunger games books vs movies. Streaming options for the earlier films are on where to watch hunger games.

Facts

FAQs

Is there a new Hunger Games movie?

Yes. The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping is due in US theaters and IMAX on November 20, 2026. Francis Lawrence directs, and Lionsgate began filming on August 6, 2025.

Who are the actors in The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping?

Confirmed actors are Joseph Zada as Haymitch Abernathy, Whitney Peak as Lenore Dove Baird, Jesse Plemons as Plutarch Heavensbee, Glenn Close as Drusilla Sickle and Billy Porter as Magno Stift. Mckenna Grace and Lili Taylor are reported, along with several others.

Are Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson going to be in Sunrise on the Reaping?

They are reported, not confirmed. Variety Australia said on December 11, 2025 that Jennifer Lawrence (Katniss Everdeen) and Josh Hutcherson (Peeta Mellark) are expected to return.

Does Sunrise on the Reaping take place before or after The Hunger Games?

Neither Lionsgate nor the trade coverage has said where it sits in story order. The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is the earliest story on screen, set more than sixty years before The Hunger Games (2012).

Where is the Hunger Games premiere?

No premiere city or venue has been reported for Sunrise on the Reaping. The only confirmed date is the US release on November 20, 2026, and Catching Fire and The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes both premiered in London.

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