Lionsgate has released the first official trailer for The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping, offering a first proper look at the next chapter in the franchise and its younger take on Haymitch Abernathy. Directed by Francis Lawrence and written by Billy Ray, the film is set 24 years before the events of The Hunger Games and begins on the morning of the reaping for the 50th Hunger Games, also known as the Second Quarter Quell.
The trailer puts Joseph Zada front and centre as Haymitch, leaning into the fear, tension, and early signs of defiance that fans will already recognise in the older version of the character. It also gives a glimpse of the Capitol at full force, with the familiar mix of spectacle and cruelty that has always defined this world.
The cast is a major part of the intrigue here. Alongside Zada as Haymitch, the film brings in Elle Fanning as a young Effie Trinket, McKenna Grace as Maysilee Donner, Jesse Plemons as a younger Plutarch Heavensbee, Kieran Culkin as Caesar Flickerman, Ralph Fiennes as President Snow, Maya Hawke as Wiress, and Kelvin Harrison Jr. as Beetee. That line-up alone makes this feel like a proper event film rather than a stopgap prequel, especially with so many familiar names now being revisited from a very different point in Panem’s history.
There is also real momentum behind it already. Suzanne Collins’ Sunrise on the Reaping reportedly sold more than 1.5 million copies worldwide in its first week, including 1.2 million in the US alone, making it the biggest debut of any title in the Hunger Games series so far. That kind of response has clearly carried over into the anticipation around the film.
If the trailer is anything to go by, Sunrise on the Reaping looks ready to tap back into what made this franchise work in the first place: political tension, strong character stakes, and the kind of carefully staged spectacle that never feels empty. Haymitch was always one of the series’ most interesting figures, so giving him the spotlight feels like a smart move
The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping is set for release on 20 November 2026.