Grace Diviny, Staff Writer
On April 13th, nearly a year after the casting was announced for the new Hunger Games film, Lionsgate finally released a new trailer for the upcoming The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping movie that is set to be released on November 20th, 2026.
The highly anticipated movie is the fifth one in the movie franchise and is based off the book released in March 2025 by Suzanne Collins. It is set before the original Hunger Games timeline, where it follows the games of District 12’s Haymitch Abernathy, the mentor of Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark during the Second Quarter Quell, a 25-year tradition in the games where cruel twists are put onto the games, in which Abernathy’s sees 48 tributes put into an arena instead of the usual 24 tributes.
The trailer was released following Lionsgate teasing a series of clips from the previous movies as history recap for fans to hype up its release. Upon its release, many were quick to see fan favorite scenes in the book displayed in the trailer, especially in the beginning where we hear President Coriolanus Snow, the ruthless dictator of Panem, tell Haymitch that he would know a thing or two about his “dove,” in reference to Haymitch’s girlfriend Lenore Dove, who happens to be related to Snow’s former lover and District 12’s first victor Lucy Gray. Other moments, such as Haymitch saying that the tributes are not animals for entertainment and the depiction of his teammate Maysilee Donner’s funeral captured the attention of fans on what they should anticipate for the movie.
Whilst many are anticipating seeing the tragic and gut-wrenching backstory of Haymitch that was alluded to in the Hunger Games, they are also excited about the mixture of a star-studded and newcomer cast. Haymitch’s younger self will be played by a new but up and coming Australian actor Joseph Zada, a 20-year-old who has had a significant role already in the Amazon Prime show “We Were Liars” and Australian show “Invisible Boys.” Another newcomer is Whitney Peak, who plays Haymitch’s girlfriend Lenore Dove, and like Zada, has had some significant roles prior to Sunrise on the Reaping such as the Gossip Girl revival show and horror film Eye for an Eye.
The rest of the cast however has recognizable names, with Effie Trinket being played by Elle Fanning, Plutarch Heavensbee being played by Jesse Plemons, Ceasar Flickerman being played by Kieran Culkin, Maysilee Donner being played by McKenna Grace, and Ralph Fiennes playing none other than President Snow himself. Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson are also set to reprise their roles as Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark, which has many fans eager to see.
By the trailer alone, Sunrise on the Reaping seems to be promising for longtime fans of The Hunger Games, with many glad it will somewhat keep in many details and important scenes
from the book that the previous films may not have done whilst also bringing back the nostalgia of the Hunger Games phenomena in the early 2010s.
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