A new ‘Hunger Games’ prequel film is slated to hit theaters in 2026.
Following the success of last November’s Hunger Games prequel, ‘The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes’, which grossed $337 million at the box office, Lionsgate has hinted that fans might not have seen the last of Panem, the dystopian world where the saga unfolds. This comes despite the spinoff covering the entirety of Suzanne Collins’ 2020 novel.
Collins is currently working on a new book, Sunrise on the Reaping, scheduled for release in 2025. The film adaptation will tentatively premiere in theaters on November 20, 2026.
Sunrise on the Reaping: What To Expect?
Like the forthcoming novel, ‘Sunrise on the Reaping’ will revisit the world of Panem, set 24 years before the events of the Katniss Everdeen saga and four decades after ‘The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes’. The story begins on the morning of the reaping for the 50th Hunger Games, also known as the Second Quarter Quell, in which a young Haymitch Abernathy—portrayed by Woody Harrelson in the original series—competes. Haymitch later mentors Katniss and Peeta.
Meredith Wieck and Scott O’Brien will manage the production for the studio, while Patricia Laucella and Phil Strina secured the book rights for Lionsgate.
The film series has earned over $3.3 billion globally, with 2013’s ‘Catching Fire’ being the top earner at $865 million. Although ‘The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes’ didn’t match the original saga’s box office numbers, its $100 million budget allowed it to be profitable, motivating the studio to proceed with another installment.
Francis Lawrence, who has directed every ‘Hunger Games’ film since 2012’s Catching Fire, is in talks to helm the new project.
