New Hunger Games movie based on Suzanne Collins’s next novel set for 2026

By Dan Girolamo June 6, 2024

A man puts his arms on the shoulder of a woman as he stands in front of her. — Lionsgate

The Hunger Games will return in two years. Lionsgate announced that a new Hunger Games prequel movie, The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping, will arrive in 2026. The feature film news comes hours after Suzanne Collins revealed that her next Hunger Games novel, Sunrise on the Reaping, will be released in 2025.

Francis Lawrence, the director of four Hunger Games films, is in talks to direct. Color Force’s Nina Jacobson and Brad Simpson will produce Sunrise on the Reaping.

“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,” Suzanne Collins said in a statement.

The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping will be set 24 years before the events of The Hunger Games. The story begins in Panem on the morning of the reaping for the 50th Hunger Games, better known as the Second Quarter Quell. Two boys and two girls from each district compete in the Quarter Quell. The 48 tributes are twice the amount that compete in a normal Hunger Games.

Haymitch Abernathy of District 12 won the Second Quarter Quell. Years later, Haymitch mentored District 12’s Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark to victory in the 74th Hunger Games. Woody Harrelson starred as Haymitch in the feature films.

Coriolanus Snow and Lucy Gray stand near a fence in The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes. — Murray Close / Lionsgate

Sunrise on the Reaping becomes the sixth film in the Hunger Games franchise. The first four films starred Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen, the girl from District 12 who won the Hunger Games and became one of the leading forces in the uprising against the Capitol. Released from 2012 to 2015, the first four Hunger Games films combined to gross nearly $3 billion at the worldwide box office.

In November 2023, Lionsgate released the fifth movie in the franchise, The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes. The prequel starred Tom Blyth as Coriolanus Snow. Years before becoming president of Panem, Snow mentored Lucy Gray Baird (Rachel Zegler) from District 12 ahead of the 10th Hunger Games. The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes grossed over $337 million on a budget of $100 million.

The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping will be published on March 18, 2025. The movie will premiere in theaters on November 20, 2026.

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