Jennifer Lawrence to Return For New ‘The Hunger Games’ Movie

While the next Hunger Games movie is a prequel, it will be a sequel of sorts as well.

According to online reports (including in Variety), both Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson will return for an appearance in the upcoming Hunger Games film Sunrise on the Reaping. The film takes place 24 years prior to the start of the main Hunger Games film franchise, which starred Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen and Hutcherson as Peeta Mellark.

The new film follows their future mentor, Haymitch Abernathy, who was played in those earlier films by Woody Harrelson. He will be played as a younger man in Sunrise on the Reaping by Joseph Zada.

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Though I possess zero insider knowledge of the Sunrise on the Reaping film, I do possess the ability to look at Wikipedia. And on the Wiki page for Suzanne Collins’ Sunrise on the Reaping novel, it says (spoilers, potentially) that following the main events of its story…

In the epilogue, set after the original series, Haymitch tells Katniss and Peeta about his past…

Sunrise on the Reaping will be the sixth Hunger Games film. Like all but the first installment in the franchise, it is directed by Francis Lawrence. Its script is by Billy Ray, whose history with The Hunger Games also dates back to that first film from 2012.

To date, the five previous Hunger Games movies have grossed over $3.3 billion worldwide. Here is the new Hunger Games’ official synopsis:

THE HUNGER GAMES: SUNRISE ON THE REAPING will revisit the world of Panem 24 years before the events of The Hunger Games, starting on the morning of the reaping of the 50th Hunger Games, also known as the Second Quarter Quell.

The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping is scheduled to open in theaters on November 20, 2026.