Hunger Games Movies in Order: Release and Chronological

The Hunger Games movies in order of release run from 2012 to 2023, which makes five films so far, with a sixth due on November 20, 2026. Release order is how audiences first met the story, and it is the order in which the four main films were built to be seen.

1. The Hunger Games (2012), directed by Gary Ross, released in the US on March 23, 2012.
2. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013), directed by Francis Lawrence, released in the US on November 22, 2013.
3. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 (2014), directed by Francis Lawrence, released in the US on November 21, 2014.
4. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 (2015), directed by Francis Lawrence, released in the US on November 20, 2015.
5. The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (2023), a prequel spinoff directed by Francis Lawrence, released in the US on November 17, 2023.

Coming next is The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping, set for November 20, 2026 (see sunrise on the reaping for the cast and status).

Why does this order work so well? The first four films tell one continuous story about Katniss Everdeen, who volunteers to take her younger sister Primrose's place at the reaping in the 2012 film. Catching Fire turns on President Snow's reaction to her defiance, and the two Mockingjay films carry the story into open rebellion. They were shot back to back at a reported $250 million, according to TheWrap, so Part 1 and Part 2 are best watched as a pair.

The prequel is the odd one out in release terms. It arrived eight years after Mockingjay Part 2, with Tom Blyth as the young Coriolanus Snow and Rachel Zegler as Lucy Gray Baird, and it is the only film in the series that sits outside the Katniss story. That being said, it is a full 157 minute film in its own right, and in chronological order it comes first.

If you are planning a marathon, the four main films run 548 minutes in total, a little over nine hours. Adding the prequel brings it to 705 minutes, just under twelve hours, so a long weekend is a fair estimate. The full cast is on the hunger games cast page.

In my opinion, a first time viewer should start with The Hunger Games (2012) and follow release order, saving the prequel for after Mockingjay Part 2. The prequel is built around a young Coriolanus Snow, and the 2012 film introduces the adult President Snow, played by Donald Sutherland, as a figure of quiet menace. Meeting him that way first gives the prequel its weight, whereas starting with the prequel means you learn the character in reverse and lose the contrast.

Is chronological order ever the better choice? Perhaps, if you have already seen the main films and want to watch them again as one long arc from the 10th Games through to Mockingjay Part 2. It could be argued that this reading gives the Capitol's cruelty a clearer origin, and the shift from Tom Blyth to Donald Sutherland is a talking point in itself. But, for a first pass, I would not do it.

The same logic applies to the next film. The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping follows Haymitch, and the 2012 film is where his character is introduced, so I would watch at least the original film before November 20, 2026. Joseph Zada leads the new cast alongside Whitney Peak, and both are confirmed. Variety Australia reports that Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson are expected to return, but that is reported rather than confirmed, so do not plan your viewing around it. Francis Lawrence, who directed everything after the first film, is back in the director's chair.

If you are short on time, watch the first film and the prequel and you have both ends of Snow's story. For everyone else, press play on The Hunger Games (2012) tonight, take Catching Fire and the two Mockingjay films in sequence, and then decide whether the prequel or the new film comes next. The where to watch hunger games page lists the streaming services for each film in the US, UK and Australia.