Good news is raining down for fans of The Hunger Games. This Thursday, novelist Suzanne Collins announced the arrival of a new book set in the universe of Panem and her terrible survival contest. The prequel, titled The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping, will not only hit shelves in less than a year; but it will also have a film adaptation like its predecessors.
Foreign media report Lionsgate’s plans to continue expanding the franchise that had a successful return with Ballad of songbirds and snakesa prequel that toured theaters in 2023.
So far, the producer has its eyes on Francis Lawrence to direct the new delivery. The filmmaker has already worked on the saga – directing four of its films – in collaboration with screenwriter Michael Arndt and producer Nina Jacobson. His vision outlined the adaptation of Katniss’ main story, and then he returned to the franchise in the film that chronicled President Snow’s past.
Due to the early nature of the announcement, there is no data on the possible cast; but the period that this new film will cover has aroused the enthusiasm of followers of dystopian fiction.
Collins and Scholastic announced that the new book will be set in the 50th edition of the Hunger Gameswhich is also known as the second Quarter Quell or second Vassalage of the 25.
According to the universe of the franchise, these games were different from the usual ones because changes were made to the rules of the harvest. For example, for the second Vassalage, 48 tributes participated instead of 24.
“The Second Quarter Quell is legendary and its memory is projected into the history of the Games, even in the time of Katniss Everdeen, a quarter of a century later. Like fans around the world, we look forward to this exciting return to Panem,” said Adam Fogelson, president of Lionsgate’s film division, who also praised the American writer’s prose.
“Suzanne Collins is a master storyteller and our creative star. “We couldn’t be luckier to have the guidance and trust of a collaborator whose talent and imagination are so consistently brilliant,” she added.
Through this book and its respective film, Collins will reveal more details about the youth of Haymitch Abernathywho later becomes Katniss and Peeta’s mentor during the Seventy-Fourth Hunger Games.
Haymitch was a tribute to the second Quarter Quell and the only official winner of District 12 for several years. However, his time through the games brought a trail of pain and suffering, memories he briefly shared with Everdeen and Mellark. The aforementioned character was played by Woody Harrelson in the blockbuster franchise that went on to gross more than $3 billion globally.
In a statement, Collins explained: “I was inspired by David Hume’s idea of implicit submission and, in his words, by ‘the ease with which the many are ruled by the few.’”
“This story also lent itself to a deeper dive into the use of propaganda and the power of those who control the narrative. The question ‘Real or not real?’ It seems more pressing to me every day,” she added.
Sunrise on the Reaping will be published in print, digital and audiobook versions on March 18, 2025 for the English-speaking public. Additionally, Lionsgate plans to release the film in November 2026.
The first installment of The Hunger Games was starred in 2012 by Jennifer Lawrence in the role of Katniss Everdeen and Josh Hutcherson like Peeta Mellark. The fiction portrays a dystopian version of America in which the Capitol and its authorities exercise control over the districts defeated in the war. One of its main instruments is the annual celebration of survival games in which 24 teenage tributes fight to die, until only one is left standing.
