District 12 sows, reaps teaser for latest Hunger Games prequel, Sunrise On The Reaping

The new, more colorful Hunger Games arrives with a teaser and first-look images of the upcoming prequel, The Hunger Games: Sunrise On The Reaping, opening November 20, 2026.

By Matt Schimkowitz | November 20, 2025 | 4:38pm

Photo Credit: Murray Close

Film News The Hunger Games

District 12 sows, reaps teaser for latest Hunger Games prequel, Sunrise On The Reaping

Understanding the relationship between reaping and sowing, Lionsgate is getting a jump on promoting the upcoming prequel, The Hunger Games: Sunrise On The Reaping. Though the movie doesn’t open for another 365 days, the studio is getting a head start on marketing by offering a sneak preview. You can never begin advertising too early, and the new trailer introduces us to a new set of characters and the latest versions of old ones. Elle Fanning takes over the role of young Effie Trinket from Elizabeth Banks. Meanwhile, Ralph Fiennes assumes President Snow duties from Tom Blyth, who played the dictator in the prequel’s prequel, The Ballad Songbirds & Snakes, and the late Donald Sutherland from the original series. It will also center on young Haymitch Abernathy, a role popularized by Woody Harrelson in the original Hunger Games films. Years before mentoring Katniss Everdeen and Peeta, he was just a competitor in the 50th Hunger Games, the Second Quarter Quell.

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The box office has not been kind to competition-based dystopian sci-fi of late. Earlier this year, two Stephen King adaptations, The Long Walk and The Running Man, struggled to keep pace with audiences. Still, we would never underestimate the draw of The Hunger Games, even if we did sort of forget that this is the second prequel to the original movies. In 2023, though, The Ballad Of Songbirds & Snakes made $349 million, which was more than enough to lure director Francis Lawrence back for another reaping. Ironically, in addition to helming five of the six Hunger Games movies, he also directed The Long Walk. Clearly no one knows how to depict these sort of child torture contests quite like him.

Courtesy of Lionsgate

The movie stars Mckenna Grace, Whitney Peak, Jesse Plemons, Kelvin Harrison Jr., Maya Hawke, Ben Wang, Kieran Culkin, Lili Taylor, Billy Porter, and Glenn Close. May the odds be forever in their favor.

The Hunger Games: Sunrise On The Reaping opens on November 20, 2026.