Back in June, author Suzanne Collins announced that she was writing a new Hunger Games novel titled Sunrise on the Reaping. It will arrive in bookstores on March 18, 2025, and features a story set 40 years after The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.
Hours later, it was confirmed that a movie adaptation is also in the works and we may now know who is playing the young Haymitch Abernathy (a character portrayed by Woody Harrelson in the original trilogy).
According to Production Weekly, Challengers star Mike Faist may be in line to lead the cast of Sunrise on the Reaping. Given the source, we'd advise taking this with a pinch of salt; however, the publication has been known to share plenty of accurate casting intel in the past.
Faist has received widespread acclaim for his work on stage, though we're sure many of you will know him best for the likes of West Side Story, The Bikeriders, and Panic.
Set during the Second Quarter Quell, the prequel will explore the Games that Haymitch was part of. That places it 24 years before the events of The Hunger Games.
Francis Lawrence, who directed 2013's The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, 2014's The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1, 2015's The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2, and 2023's The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, is in line to helm the film.
"Suzanne Collins is a master storyteller and our creative north star," Lionsgate Motion Picture Group’s Adam Fogelson previously said. "We couldn’t be more fortunate than to be guided and trusted by a collaborator whose talent and imagination are so consistently brilliant. We know Hunger Games fans worldwide will be spellbound by where Suzanne has focused this next extraordinary story."
He added, "The Second Quarter Quell is legendary and looms large over the history of the Games, even into the time of Katniss Everdeen a quarter-century later. Like fans around the globe, we are eagerly anticipating this exciting return to Panem."
Collins also chimed in to say, "From the beginning, Lionsgate has been a wonderful home and partner for the Hunger Games franchise, and I’m very excited to be collaborating with Adam and the team as we bring this next story to theaters in 2026."
There are surely those who will say Collins is simply writing books to turn into movies at this stage, but The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes novel was a hit and the movie grossed a solid $337.4 million worldwide.
The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping arrives in theaters on November 20, 2026.