Jennifer Lawrence returns as Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping

Jennifer Lawrence has confirmed that she will return as Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping, the upcoming instalment in the dystopian film franchise. Speaking on Alex Cooper's Call Her Daddy podcast on October 28, the actor described the experience of revisiting the character and reuniting with her former co-stars as emotional.

"It was unbelievable. It was so crazy. It was the same crew," Lawrence said. She also spoke about reconnecting with Josh Hutcherson, who plays Peeta Mellark, adding, "Josh and I didn't walk to the bathroom without our arms around each other. It was so beautiful."

All you need to know about Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping

Directed by Francis Lawrence, The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping is the sixth film in the franchise and the second prequel following The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes (2023). Based on Suzanne Collins' 2025 novel of the same name, the story takes place 24 years before the events of the original The Hunger Games.

The film centres on a young Haymitch Abernathy, played by Joseph Zada, as he is selected to compete in the 50th Hunger Games, also known as the Second Quarter Quell. Unlike the regular Games, this edition requires each district to send twice the usual number of tributes, making it one of the deadliest competitions in Panem's history. The story follows Haymitch's fight for survival and the events that shape him into the mentor later seen in Katniss and Peeta's Games.

The cast includes Whitney Peak, Mckenna Grace, Jesse Plemons, Maya Hawke, Ralph Fiennes, Elle Fanning, Glenn Close and Kieran Culkin. Woody Harrelson also returns as the older Haymitch, while Hutcherson reprises his role as Peeta. Lawrence's appearance is expected to connect the prequel's story to the original films through the book's present-day epilogue.

The franchise began with The Hunger Games (2012), followed by Catching Fire (2013), Mockingjay – Part 1 (2014) and Mockingjay – Part 2 (2015). The four films followed Katniss, a young woman from District 12 who volunteers to take her sister's place in a televised fight to the death and eventually becomes the face of a rebellion against the Capitol. The prequel The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes explored the early years of President Coriolanus Snow and the origins of the Games.

Sunrise on the Reaping is scheduled to release in theatres on November 20, 2026.

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