Before the publication of The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, I don’t think anyone thought we’d revisit the world of Panem. And now here we are, with The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping’s surprise teaser setting up the franchise’s 2026 return. While that’s exciting in its own right, the return of Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson is even more fuel for that fire. However, this leaves one really big omission in the announcement sticking out like a Mockingjay.
Per reporting out of THR, Lawrence and Hutcherson are officially heading back to Panem for The Hunger Games’ next cinematic outing. We’ll be catching up with Katniss and Peeta for the first time since 2015’s Mockingjay: Part 2, and presumably in the post-Hunger Games epilogue from the 2025 source material.
Set to release on November 20, 2026, the second prequel focuses on a young Haymitch Abernathy (Joseph Zada), as he’s about to compete in the Second Quarter Quell. A moment of great pain in his backstory, Sunrise on the Reaping filled in further crucial backstory to the original Hunger Games trilogy. Which makes the absence of one more piece of potential news all the more curious.
Woody Harrelson Isn’t Confirmed For Sunrise On The Reaping…Yet
While Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson are set to respectively return as Katniss and Peeta, there’s no official announcement on whether Woody Harrelson will be playing Haymitch again. That’s concerning, as his performance is just as important as landing this iconic duo from Hunger Games past.
Without any plot spoilers, Sunrise on the Reaping isn’t pulling these appearances out of its hat. Suzanne Collins’ second prequel includes an epilogue where Haymitch Abernathy sits with his young friends, spinning the yarn covered in this very volume. So this isn’t like The Hobbit: There and Back Again finding a quick excuse to bring Elijah Wood back for continuity.
It would be super weird to not have Woody Harrelson back as Haymitch Abernathy in a story that focuses on his traumatic past. Of course, the brass at Lionsgate may be waiting to make that announcement, as not everyone has read Sunrise on the Reaping. After all, the book did come out this past March; and we only saw the teaser (included below) earlier this month.
We’ll see how things progress, but for the moment you can currently read the tragedy of Haymitch, with the Francis Lawrence adaptation set to hit theaters on November 20, 2026. In the meantime, keep it tuned to THS’ The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping archives, as we’ll be keeping up with all the breaking news that keeps the odds in your favor.
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