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Jennifer Lawrence confirms return as Katniss in Hunger Games prequel Sunrise on the Reaping, out 20 November
Jennifer Lawrence has confirmed she returns as Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping, calling the reunion emotional. The film, out on 20 November, follows a young Haymitch at the 50th Hunger Games. The size of the roles for Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson is unconfirmed.
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Jennifer Lawrence has confirmed that she will return as Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping, which is due in cinemas on 20 November 2026. She spoke about the return on a podcast episode on 28 October, and she described it as emotional. Reports of her return and that of Josh Hutcherson as Peeta Mellark go back to December 2025. The size of their roles has not been confirmed.
What she said
Lawrence told the podcast that it was emotional to reprise the role, and she spoke of reuniting with Hutcherson, who plays Peeta. Her remarks mark the first time that she has confirmed the return in her own words. Some reports say she also spoke of working again with Woody Harrelson, but others say that Harrelson, who played the mentor Haymitch Abernathy in the earlier films, has not been confirmed for the prequel.
The film
Sunrise on the Reaping follows the young Haymitch Abernathy, played by Joseph Zada, starting on the morning of the reaping for the fiftieth Hunger Games, which is also known as the Second Quarter Quell. It is set about 24 years before the story of the first film. It is directed by Francis Lawrence, who has directed every film in the series except the first, and the screenplay is by Billy Ray, based on the novel by Suzanne Collins.
| Role | Actor |
|---|---|
| Haymitch Abernathy | Joseph Zada |
| Lenore Dove Baird | Whitney Peak |
| Maysilee Donner | McKenna Grace |
| Plutarch Heavensbee | Jesse Plemons |
| Beetee | Kelvin Harrison Jr. |
| Wiress | Maya Hawke |
| Mags | Lili Taylor |
| Wyatt Callow | Ben Wang |
| Effie Trinket | Elle Fanning |
| Drusilla Sickle | Glenn Close |
| President Snow | Ralph Fiennes |
The film is mainly set decades before the events that made Katniss and Peeta known, so their parts are expected to be small. Reports expect at least some of the film to flash forward to the time when they were last seen, in a District 12 that had been freed, where they were married and raising children. The novel ends with an epilogue in which Haymitch tells Katniss and Peeta about his past, which suggests how the film might use the two actors. Neither Lawrence nor Hutcherson appears in the trailer, according to one outlet, and the studio has not said how they will be used.
It has been about ten years since The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2, which was the last film in which Katniss and Peeta were seen. The previous film in the series, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, was also a prequel, set at the 10th Hunger Games and following a young Coriolanus Snow, played by Tom Blyth. Sunrise on the Reaping goes further into the past of the games with a younger Haymitch.
Haymitch Abernathy is the mentor who was played by Woody Harrelson in the earlier films, and the new film shows him as a teenager in the arena. A Quell, in the story, is a special edition of the Games that comes every 25 years, with its own twist, and the fiftieth, the Second Quarter Quell, is the one in which Haymitch is reaped. The film uses the same world as the earlier ones, with the Capitol, the districts and the Games, but at an earlier point in its history.
| Film | Year |
|---|---|
| The Hunger Games | 2012 |
| Catching Fire | 2013 |
| Mockingjay Part 1 | 2014 |
| Mockingjay Part 2 | 2015 |
| The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes | 2023 |
| Sunrise on the Reaping | 20 November 2026 |
The film has been drawing attention in search trends in India after the podcast remarks and the news about the return of the original stars. Its release date, 20 November, is three weeks away. Fans will have to wait to see whether the return is a brief appearance or something longer, and whether Harrelson is part of it.
Release details for India, such as the languages and the number of screens, have not been announced in the reports used for this article.
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