Lionsgate has released the official teaser trailer for The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping, taking us back to Panem, a prequel centered around a young Haymitch Abernathy and the 50th Hunger Games. It’s a sharp first look that combines bright, idyllic visuals with the series’ familiar nightmares of children sent to die for show. Watch the teaser above and read more below.
Set 24 years before Katniss Everdeen took up her bow, and decades after the events of The Ballad of Songbirds, Sunrise of the Reaper follows District 12’s Haymitch Abernathy (played by Australian actor Joseph Zada, We Were Liars, The Invisible Boys) as he is thrown into the 50th Hunger Games. This second quarter query doubles the number of tributes and reveals a lush, colorful green arena unlike any previous film.
Longtime fans will know Haymitch as the hard-drinking leader played by Woody Harrelson in the original trilogy. This prequel depicts the trauma that shaped him and deepens the tragedy behind the man Katniss and Peeta ultimately turned to. If you’re familiar with this story, you know it leaves us emotional. The teaser ends with a brief vocal echo of Harrelson’s older Haymitch. “I think these games are going to be different.”
The teaser also gives us a glimpse of younger versions of Capitol’s key players. Elle Fanning stars as Effie Trinket. The role was originated by Elizabeth Banks. Jesse Plemons plays Plutarch Heavensbee, previously played by Philip Seymour Hoffman. Ralph Fiennes stars as Coriolanus Snow, a new take on the future president played by Donald Sutherland in the original film and played by Tom Bryce as a young man in 2023’s The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.
They are joined by a layered ensemble: McKenna Grace as Maysilee Donner, Maya Hawke as Wyress (a character previously brought to life by Amanda Plummer), Glenn Close as Drusilla Sickle, Ben Wang as Wyatt Callow, Iris Apatow as Proserpina, Whitney Peake as Lenore Dove Baird, and Billy Porter as Magno Stift. Kieran Culkin takes over as flamboyant host Caesar Flickerman, originally played by Stanley Tucci.
Francis Lawrence returns to the director’s chair and has directed all films in the series except for the first, which was directed by Gary Ross. Lawrence is certainly drawn to these kinds of stories. This year’s latest film, The Long Walk, based on a Stephen King novel, is also about young people risking their lives for entertainment.
The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping will be released in Australian cinemas on November 19, 2026, and in US cinemas on November 20, 2026.
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