Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson are turning back the clock as both have signed on to reprise their roles as Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark. The next installment in the series, titled The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping, is set to release in late 2026. This year marks a decade since we last saw our leading duo in this world with The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2. 

The upcoming film will be the second prequel to the 4 films Lawrence and Hutcherson starred in from 2012-2015.  It follows up 2023’s The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes which was set 64 years in the past and starred Tom Blyth as a young Coriolanus Snow, also starring Rachel Zegler. Sunrise on the Reaping will take place 24 years prior to the original film as we follow Joseph Zada playing a young Haymitch Abernathy and the lead up to the Second Quarter Quell, or 50th annual Hunger Games. It is not yet known what shape Lawrence and Hutcherson’s roles will take in the film, but it is safe to assume it will be a flash forward sequence(s) considering the film is a prequel. Although Woody Harrelson will likely not be returning as the Haymitch Abernathy audiences grew to love, Sunrise on the Reaping has a star-studded cast that includes: Jesse Plemons, Glenn Close, Elle Fanning, Kieran Culkin, Maya Hawke, and more.  

Suzanne Collins once again provided the source material for this story, releasing her book Sunrise on the Reaping earlier this year.  Francis Lawrence will be returning to direct, himself having directed every Hunger Games film outside of the original installment in 2012.  Currently, this film is the only one currently dated for Jennifer Lawrence, who is coming off starring in Die My Love earlier this year alongside Robert Pattinson and Lakeith Stanfield.  Be sure to check back in to MXDWN for more Hunger Games coverage as we inch closer to the release of Sunrise on the Reaping on November 20, 2026.