Sunrise on the Reaping returns to the arena
Francis Lawrence is returning to the familiar structure of The Hunger Games for Sunrise on the Reaping, the fifth film in the series and a story set during the 50th Hunger Games. The new film explores the early life of Haymitch Abernathy, decades before Katniss Everdeen entered the arena.
Lawrence first joined the franchise with Catching Fire in 2013. He says the new film restores the scale, spectacle and formal rhythm audiences associate with the earlier entries: District 12, the reaping, chariots, interviews, training and an arena built around a major Quarter Quell.
Footage shown during a preview also points to a larger-format presentation designed to make the arena feel especially imposing. Lawrence described the film as a chance to recreate the scope of the earlier movies while showing Panem before Katniss became the face of its rebellion.
Haymitch before the bitterness
Sunrise on the Reaping follows Haymitch from an optimistic, carefree young man to the damaged alcoholic audiences meet in the first film. His journey is also the story of an apolitical teenager being pushed into resistance as he becomes a defender of District 12 and the people around it.
Lawrence and longtime producer Nina Jacobson see that transformation as central to the film’s relevance. Its message is direct: when something is wrong, people must speak up, take action and continue fighting even when change is slow.
Why this film feels like a return
Lawrence distinguishes the new film from the later chapters of the series. Mockingjay moved away from the arena and into a war story centred on the Capitol, while The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes presented a much earlier version of the Games and focused on the origins of an antagonist.
By contrast, Sunrise on the Reaping follows the recognisable progression of the original novels and Catching Fire. The Games remain a major destination of the story, with the ceremony, spectacle and escalating arena danger that helped define the franchise.
A secret manuscript and a different kind of prequel
Jacobson previously said the team would only make another Hunger Games film if Suzanne Collins arrived with a new manuscript. After the premiere of Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, Collins’s literary agent hinted that she was working on another book, although the producers expected it to take years.
Instead, the manuscript arrived much sooner than anticipated. The book and film were announced close together, and the filmmakers kept their involvement confidential while travelling to New York to work with Collins. Lawrence says he could not even tell his family why he was making the trip.
Jacobson believes the two prequels gain meaning when viewed together. Ballad shows an earlier, rudimentary version of the Games and follows the young Coriolanus Snow, while the new film shows how ideas about spectacle, punishment and entertainment have developed decades later.
The Games are not only intended to punish the districts. They are also designed to create a narrative that keeps people obedient. Snow’s experiences as a young mentor inform the more elaborate Games seen later, including his complicated connection to District 12 and the Covey performers.
Designing Panem through a 1970s lens
The film’s visual language draws strongly from the late 1960s and early 1970s. Lawrence connected the strange, dreamlike arena to the mood of Jefferson Airplane’s “White Rabbit”, while the Capitol takes cues from Yves Saint Laurent, Studio 54 and Andy Warhol’s circle. District 12 draws on images associated with a young Stevie Nicks and Bruce Springsteen.
That period influence extends to the architecture. The production used Berlin’s ICC convention centre, a striking early-1970s building that has stood largely unused since the early 1990s. Its brutalist interiors became locations for the tributes’ apartment, Caesar Flickerman’s orientation room, interview stages and training areas.
Germany had already been valuable to the production of Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. Jacobson pointed to filming the chariot sequence in Berlin’s Olympic Stadium, the location where Jesse Owens competed in front of Adolf Hitler and the world. For the filmmakers, the country’s architecture and history created a productive conversation with the story’s themes.
Activism, media and delayed change
Lawrence says the earlier films focused heavily on the consequences of war, while the new story places greater emphasis on activism and the need to reject political apathy. The film challenges the idea that an individual vote or public statement cannot matter.
He also links that theme to a culture shaped by phones, games and instant reactions. Meaningful change may not arrive immediately, and the film argues that waiting for instant results should not become an excuse for doing nothing.
Jacobson adds that Collins is interested in the constructed nature of entertainment. Whether the audience is watching TikTok, television or YouTube, what they consume has been arranged to tell a story with a purpose. The film asks viewers to recognise that the version of events presented on screen is not necessarily the full truth.
How far can a PG-13 Hunger Games film go?
The filmmakers acknowledge that the material pushes hard against the limits of a PG-13 release. Lawrence recalls finding several moments in the manuscript that appeared extremely difficult to adapt within that rating, including a scene involving a villain holding the severed head of a child.
That tension is part of the franchise’s identity. The opening of the Games includes young children attacking teenagers with axes, creating an intentionally disturbing contrast between the series’ commercial rating and its violence.
Lawrence and Jacobson say they do not treat fan expectations as a separate instruction manual because they consider themselves fans as well. They aim to protect the elements they value in Collins’s books, while accepting that difficult choices are unavoidable when a cut runs to three and a half hours.
Release date
The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping is scheduled to arrive in Australian cinemas on November 20, 2026. For more entertainment and gaming coverage, explore the RETROCADE Arcade Blog, watch the latest arcade videos, or browse the arcade machine buying guide.
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