Mad Over Stories Team The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping hits theaters November 20, 2026 — and it’s the prequel fans have wanted for years: the story of how a young Haymitch Abernathy survived his own Games. Newcomer Joseph Zada leads a stacked cast, and the film adapts Suzanne Collins’s 2025 bestseller. Here’s the release date, the full cast, the plot, and how it connects to everything you already know.
When does Sunrise on the Reaping come out?
Sunrise on the Reaping releases in theaters on November 20, 2026. It’s the fifth Hunger Games film and the second prequel, following The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes.
The cast
- Joseph Zada as a 16-year-old Haymitch Abernathy — the role Woody Harrelson played in the original films.
- Ralph Fiennes as President Coriolanus Snow.
- Elle Fanning as a young Effie Trinket.
- Kieran Culkin as Caesar Flickerman.
- Jesse Plemons as a young Plutarch Heavensbee, with Glenn Close and Maya Hawke among the ensemble.
What is Sunrise on the Reaping about?
The story follows 16-year-old Haymitch as he’s reaped into the 50th Hunger Games — the Second Quarter Quell, a special edition with double the tributes. Outside the arena, his bond with his girlfriend Lenore Dove Baird raises the emotional stakes. Inside it, Haymitch has to survive a rigged spectacle designed to break him — and the way he wins quietly turns him into a rebel, decades before Katniss ever volunteers. If you’ve seen the originals, you already know the cost of that victory, which is exactly what gives this prequel its heartbreak.
Is Sunrise on the Reaping based on a book?
Yes. It adapts Suzanne Collins’s novel Sunrise on the Reaping, published in 2025 — her second Hunger Games prequel. As with all Collins adaptations, expect the film to streamline the book’s interior narration while keeping its political bite. If you want the fuller emotional context before November, the novel is the way in.
How it connects to the other Hunger Games stories
Chronologically, Sunrise on the Reaping sits between The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes (Snow’s origin) and the original trilogy (Katniss’s story), filling in the single most-referenced backstory in the franchise: what actually happened to Haymitch. It’s a book-to-screen release in a huge year for them — it joins adaptations like Verity and The Whisper Man on the 2026 calendar.
Frequently asked questions
When is Sunrise on the Reaping released?
The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping releases in theaters on November 20, 2026.
Who plays Haymitch in Sunrise on the Reaping?
Joseph Zada plays the 16-year-old Haymitch Abernathy, the character Woody Harrelson played in the original Hunger Games films.
Is Sunrise on the Reaping based on a book?
Yes, it adapts Suzanne Collins’s 2025 novel of the same name, her second Hunger Games prequel.
What Hunger Games is Sunrise on the Reaping about?
It follows Haymitch competing in the 50th Hunger Games, known as the Second Quarter Quell, which featured double the usual number of tributes.
Do I need to read the book first?
No, but the novel adds emotional depth and backstory. Many fans read it before watching to catch how the film interprets key moments.
