The first trailer has been released for The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping.
The latest instalment in the iconic franchise is a prequel set 24 years before Katniss Everdeen first burst onto the scene.
Sunrise on the Reaping is based on the 2025 book of the same name.
The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping releases in cinemas next year. Pic: Murray Close
It will be released in cinemas on November 20, 2026 – exactly one year from the first trailer’s release.
The film follows a young Haymitch Abernathy who is selected to compete in the 50th Hunger Games.
Haymitch is being played by Joseph Zada in this prequel, with his older version played by Woody Harrelson in the original films.
The trailer has given fans plenty of excitement. Pic: Murray Close
In the 2026 movie, 48 children will fight to the death to win the Hunger Games.
It also stars Elle Fanning as a younger version of Effie Trinket, who was originally played by Elizabeth Banks.
Ralph Fiennes stars as President Coriolanus Snow, previously portrayed by Donald Sutherland in the original films and Tom Blyth in Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.
Joseph Zada plays a young Haymitch Abernathy. Pic: Murray Close
Kieran Culkin will play Caesar Flickerman, the TV host of the Hunger Games.
The character was played by Stanley Tucci in the original series.
Jesse Plemons will play a younger version of Plutarch Heavensbee, who was Philip Seymour Hoffman in the Mockingjay films.
The all-star cast also features Kelvin Harrison Jr, Glenn Close, Maya Hawke, Mckenna Grace, Billy Porter, Whitney Peak, Ben Wang, Molly McCann, Iona Bell and Percy Daggs IV.
Sunrise on the Reaping is directed by Francis Lawrence and written by Billy Ray.
The trailer has filled Hunger Games fans with excitement and it is spreading across social media.
One X user wrote: ‘I’ve never been more excited for a film ever, the book was such a masterpiece I’m gonna be a wreck next year.’
Another added: ‘Obsessed by Glenn Close just having as much fun as she can while traditional prestige roles don’t come. The movie looks exciting and what a relief to see a colourful blockbuster.’
A third shared: ‘They say you can’t predict the future but I KNOW what I am doing exactly a year from now.’
Yet another commented: ‘This looks f***ing amazing, genuinely can’t wait.’
“Let the 50th Hunger Games begin.”
The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping – in theaters & IMAX November 20, 2026. pic.twitter.com/QrViO2Ss1t
— The Hunger Games (@TheHungerGames) November 20, 2025