{"id":377984,"date":"2026-04-13T22:06:11","date_gmt":"2026-04-13T22:06:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/377984\/"},"modified":"2026-04-13T22:06:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-13T22:06:11","slug":"sunrise-on-the-reaping-new-trailer-watch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/377984\/","title":{"rendered":"Sunrise on the Reaping’ New Trailer \u2014\u00a0Watch"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lionsgate is headed back to Panem, where a star-studded cast<\/a> \u2014 including Elle Fanning as Effie Trinket, Maya Hawke as Wiress, Kieran Culkin as Caesar Flickerman, and Jesse Plemons as Plutarch Heavensby \u2014 is ready to turn the new \u201cHunger Games\u201d prequel into one of this year\u2019s most anticipated film<\/a>s.\u00a0<\/p>\n

On Monday, the studio unveiled its latest trailer for \u201cThe Hunger Games<\/a>: Sunrise on the Reaping,\u201d with a theatrical release date set for November 20. It\u2019s an adaptation of author Suzanne Collins\u2019 newly released prequel novel, which just hit shelves last month, and based on the footage, director Francis Lawrence (\u201cThe Long Walk,\u201d<\/a> \u201cThe Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes) isn\u2019t planning a nostalgic victory lap so much as he is calculating a meticulous expansion of this infamous dystopia\u2019s bleakest lore.<\/p>\n

\"LOCARNO,<\/a> \"Mile<\/a> <\/p>\n

Set 24 years before Katniss Everdeen volunteered as tribute, \u201cSunrise on the Reaping\u201d centers on the Second Quarter Quell (i.e. the 50th Hunger Games). The anniversary match features a brutal twist on the Capitol\u2019s favorite bloodsport \u2014\u00a0forcing twice as many children to fend for their lives in a brutal fight to the death. If earlier installments flirted with spectacle as a form of survival, this trailer leans even harder into the media machinery backing this fascist government.\u00a0<\/p>\n

From pageantry to politics, the normalization of violence is what made \u201cThe Hunger Games\u201d such an enduring multi-generational touchstone in the first place. Actor Joseph Zada leads the charge Haymitch Abernathy, as one of four District 12 tributes. The character, who eventually becomes Katniss\u2019 mentor in the books and movies, was originally played by Woody Harrelson. Mckenna Grace<\/a> co-stars as Maysilee Donner, a fresh face also from District 12.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Despite a punched-up color palette, Lionsgate is banking on mostly familiar creative DNA to carry the YA series forward. Franchise producer Nina Jacobson returns alongside Brad Simpson, while Lawrence \u2014 who has directed every \u201cHunger Games\u201d installment since the first sequel, \u201cCatching Fire\u201d<\/a> \u2014 teams with the original screenwriter Billy Ray (also \u201cRichard Jewell,\u201d \u201cOverlord\u201d) to design the new game at hand. That continuity is promising, but it also raises the question of whether \u201cSunrise on the Reaping\u201d will meaningfully evolve a world that has already grossed more than $3.3 billion.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The latest trailer offers a glimpse of a younger, more volatile Panem, still codifying the lethal rituals that came to define its authoritarian grip. There\u2019s an intoxicating dreaminess to the imagery that recalls the early films, but with a sharper focus on the menace Collins has always infused in her work. This time, we know who wins, but what did Haymitch have to do to make his competitors fall? That tension is key to \u201cThe Hunger Games\u201d longevity, and if \u201cThe Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes\u201d proved anything, it\u2019s that audiences like to see old strategies shift.<\/p>\n

From Lionsgate, \u201cThe Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping<\/a>\u201d is in theaters on November 20. Watch the new trailer below. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Lionsgate is headed back to Panem, where a star-studded cast \u2014 including Elle Fanning as Effie Trinket, Maya…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":377985,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[156,593,409,111,139,69,80057,98914,28104],"class_list":{"0":"post-377984","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-movies","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-film","10":"tag-movies","11":"tag-new-zealand","12":"tag-newzealand","13":"tag-nz","14":"tag-the-hunger-games","15":"tag-the-hunger-games-sunrise-on-the-reaping","16":"tag-trailers"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/377984","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=377984"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/377984\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/377985"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=377984"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=377984"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=377984"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}