The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping has an exciting surprise in store for fans. Based on Suzanne Collins’s prequel of the same name, Sunrise on the Reaping takes place 24 years before Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark’s first spell in the Hunger Games. The plot centers on Haymitch Abernathy’s participation in Panem’s annual fight to the death, detailing his tragic backstory before he becomes Katniss and Peeta’s mentor. As the franchise’s second prequel following The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (2023), Sunrise on the Reaping promises something that none of the franchise’s previous five films were able to achieve.
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Following the news that Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson will reprise their roles as Katniss and Peeta in Sunrise on the Reaping, it’s confirmed that every Hunger Games victor from District 12 will appear on screen at some point in the movie. Even Rachel Zegler’s Lucy Gray Baird is expected to show up. It’s not known whether Woody Harrelson will come back to play Haymitch, but Joseph Zada’s lead performance as the 16-year-old version of the character will be compelling to watch. The presence of District 12’s four victors is a sensational prospect that fans of The Hunger Games should look forward to.
WARNING: This article contains minor spoilers for The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping.
All Four District 12 Victors Are in The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping
It seems totally implausible for all of Haymitch, Katniss, Peeta, and Lucy Gray to appear in the same story, but Sunrise on the Reaping remarkably finds ways to include them. Katniss and Peeta emerge in the novel’s epilogue, which takes place some time after the events of Mockingjay. Spanning only two pages and containing no spoken dialogue, the epilogue describes the life Haymitch leads alongside Katniss, Peeta, and their two children in the future.
Lucy Gray makes a brief cameo toward the end of Sunrise on the Reaping when Haymitch sees footage of her performing on stage in District 12 soon after she won the 10th Hunger Games, a scene featured in The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. The film adaptation won’t require Zegler to film any new scenes, as Sunrise on the Reaping can simply reuse the sequence from the earlier prequel film. Lucy Gray’s impact on Sunrise on the Reaping is much greater than anticipated; thus, her quick appearance is far from a random event.
Katniss, Peeta, and Lucy Gray won’t have much screen time in Sunrise on the Reaping if the movie adapts its source material faithfully. Even so, their appearances will be exciting to witness in theaters. It’s amazing to see how all of the District 12 victors’ stories converge in Sunrise on the Reaping. By incorporating all of them in the narrative, Collins proves that despite Lucy Gray’s estrangement from the rest of the pack, these characters are connected in a bigger way than previously understood.
Lawrence and Hutcherson returning to the franchise should be a real treat for longtime fans of the books and movies, and it will be even better if Harrelson joins them. When Sunrise on the Reaping hits theaters next year, 11 years will have passed since Lawrence, Hutcherson, and others took their final bow in The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2. The actors are still revered for their roles in The Hunger Games films, and their involvement in Sunrise on the Reaping after so many years is worth the buzz it will attract.
Sunrise on the Reaping Is a Completely Different Hunger Games Prequel
Unlike The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, Sunrise on the Reaping closely bridges the gap between the past and the present-day of The Hunger Games. Eight important characters from the original trilogy appear in Sunrise on the Reaping, and they provide valuable insight into the series’s later events. In addition to Zada’s Haymitch, the upcoming movie will feature Ralph Fiennes as President Coriolanus Snow, Jesse Plemons as Plutarch Heavensbee, Elle Fanning as Effie Trinket, Kieran Culkin as Caesar Flickerman, Lili Taylor as Mags, Maya Hawke as Wiress, and Kelvin Harrison Jr. as Beetee.
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes takes place 64 years before The Hunger Games, leaving only Snow and his sister Tigris as the only characters who show up in the story later on. Sunrise on the Reaping‘s closer proximity to the original Hunger Games trilogy in the timeline means audiences will get to see a multitude of beloved characters in a different light through their younger portrayals. Lawrence and Hutcherson’s return as the iconic duo of Katniss and Peeta Sunrise on the Reaping generates even more hype for the highly anticipated next installment in The Hunger Games franchise.
The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping opens in theaters on November 20, 2026.
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