A new 'Hunger Games' prequel movie is coming in 2026
Fans of The Hunger Games were hit with a one-two punch of good news on Thursday, June 6. Author Suzanne Collins revealed a new Hunger Games prequel, titled Sunrise on the Reaping, is on the way. Mere hours later, Lionsgate confirmed a film adaptation is already in the works.
The film is scheduled to premiere on Nov. 20, 2026, just a year and a half after the book comes out on March 18, 2025. Like 2024's The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, Sunrise on the Reaping will center on a pivotal Hunger Games from well before Katniss Everdeen's time. According to summaries from Scholastic and posts from The Hunger Games' social media accounts, the Games in question will be the 50th, otherwise known as the Second Quarter Quell.
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Hunger Games fans will immediately recognize the Second Quarter Quell as being the Games won by Haymitch Abernathy, Katniss and Peeta's mentor. The novel Catching Fire features a sequence where Katniss and Peeta watch the Quarter Quell, but that scene didn't make it to the screen.
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Details about who is directing and starring in Sunrise on the Reaping have yet to come out, but a statement from Collins provides a deeper idea of the themes fans can expect from both.
"With Sunrise on the Reaping, I was inspired by David Hume's idea of implicit submission and, in his words, 'the easiness with which the many are governed by the few,'" Collins said in a statement. "The story also lent itself to a deeper dive into the use of propaganda and the power of those who control the narrative. The question 'Real or not real?' seems more pressing to me every day."
Sunrise on the Reaping will open in theaters Nov. 20, 2026.
Topics Film
Belen Edwards is an Entertainment Reporter at Mashable. She covers movies and TV with a focus on fantasy and science fiction, adaptations, animation, and more nerdy goodness. She is a member of the Critics Choice Association and the Television Critics Association, as well as a Tomatometer-approved critic.
