The new Hunger Games movie is titled The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping , and it’s a prequel that follows a young Haymitch Abernathy as he’s forced to compete in the brutal 50th Hunger Games, also known as the Second Quarter Quell, set 24 years before Katniss’s story.

Quick Scoop

In this installment, the focus shifts away from Katniss to Haymitch , the future mentor of District 12, exploring how his traumatic victory and the Capitol’s twisted “special edition” Games shape the cynical, damaged man seen in the original series. The story is set in Panem on the day of the reaping for the 50th Hunger Games, where extra tributes and cruel rule changes turn the arena into one of the bloodiest Games in the franchise’s timeline.

Core Plot

  • The movie adapts Suzanne Collins’ novel Sunrise on the Reaping , bridging the gap between The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes and the original Hunger Games trilogy.
  • Haymitch is reaped for the Second Quarter Quell and must navigate alliances, strategy, and Capitol manipulation to survive an arena designed to be especially deadly and politically symbolic.
  • His experience in these Games, and what the Capitol does to him and the people he cares about afterward, lays the groundwork for his later alcoholism, distrust of authority, and reluctant mentorship of Katniss and Peeta.

Setting and Timeline

  • The film is set 24 years before the events of the first Hunger Games movie, making it a direct prequel to Katniss’s story but a sequel in timeline to The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes.
  • It centers on the 50th Hunger Games/Second Quarter Quell, a “special” edition that changes the usual rules to heighten spectacle and suffering, as Quarter Quells are designed to do every 25 years.

Characters and Tone

  • Haymitch Abernathy is the main protagonist, played by a new younger actor, with the film expanding his backstory beyond the brief mentions in the original books and films.
  • New tributes, Capitol figures, and a central relationship in Haymitch’s life add emotional stakes, with early buzz suggesting this could be one of the most intense and brutal Games depicted on screen so far.

Release and Current Status

  • The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping is planned as the sixth film in the franchise and is scheduled for theatrical release on November 20, 2026, in the U.S. and Canada.
  • Trailers and early coverage frame it as a darker, politically charged return to Panem that leans into the franchise’s commentary on spectacle, trauma, and rebellion, which is driving a fresh wave of online discussion and “Hunger Games renaissance” talk.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.