First Look at Lionsgate's Upcoming Film The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping
The Hunger Games are officially back on screen, and this time it’s Haymitch’s turn in the spotlight. Lionsgate has dropped the first teaser for The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping, the 2026 prequel based on Suzanne Collins’ latest novel, and it’s already stirring up the same mix of dread and fascination that defined the original series. Set 24 years before Katniss volunteers as tribute, the film jumps back to the 50th Hunger Games—the Second Quarter Quell—where District 12’s Haymitch Abernathy is thrown into an arena designed to break him long before he ever becomes anyone’s mentor.
The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping | Photo Credit: Lionsgate
The teaser keeps its focus tight, showcasing a grim reaping day, a packed square, and a young Haymitch (newcomer Joseph Zada) hearing his name called. There are quick flashes of the Capitol’s announcement that, for this Quarter Quell, the number of tributes has doubled to 48, followed by glimpses of the lush, deceptively beautiful arena that book readers will recognize as one of the series’ most brutal settings. A countdown voiceover drives the tension as we see tributes sizing each other up, blood on the tropical foliage, and the Games machinery snapping back into place. The teaser ends with a familiar echo from the future: Woody Harrelson’s voice as older Haymitch warning, “I think these Games are gonna be different.”
The cast is stacked in a way that mirrors the original run. Zada’s Haymitch is joined by Whitney Peak as Lenore Dove Baird, McKenna Grace as fellow District 12 tribute Maysilee Donner, and Maya Hawke as Wiress, with Ralph Fiennes stepping in as President Snow and Elle Fanning taking on Effie Trinket. Glenn Close, Kieran Culkin, Billy Porter, and more round out the Capitol and arena ranks. Francis Lawrence is back behind the camera after directing four previous entries, with Billy Ray handling the script.
As a first look, the teaser doesn’t try to drastically differ from what fans expect. Instead, it leans into what made this world work in the first place: an arena that looks almost inviting until it doesn’t, Capitol spectacle sitting on top of real fear, and a protagonist who has no idea he’s about to become a legend.
With a November 20, 2026, release date on the books, Sunrise on the Reaping has almost a full year to build momentum—but if this trailer is any indication, fans are already prepared to dive back into the arena.
