Sunrise on the Reaping Movie: Release Date, Cast and Trailers So Far

The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping opens in US theaters and IMAX on Friday, Nov. 20, 2026, with Joseph Zada as a 16-year-old Haymitch Abernathy and Ralph Fiennes as President Snow. Lionsgate has released a teaser and two numbered trailers, plus a handful of shorter videos. On Oct. 28, Jennifer Lawrence said she is back as Katniss. When we checked at 2:21 a.m. ET (06:21 UTC) on Friday, Oct. 30, no full reviews had been published and no streaming date had been announced.

When does Sunrise on the Reaping come out?

Lionsgate releases The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping in US theaters and IMAX on Friday, Nov. 20, 2026.

Lionsgate’s trailer pages, Rotten Tomatoes and Fandango all give that date. Early-access screenings in IMAX and other premium formats start Wednesday, Nov. 18, from 6 p.m. local time; our Sunrise on the Reaping tickets and showtimes guide covers booking, formats and offers.

It is the sixth Hunger Games film. It follows The Hunger Games (2012), Catching Fire (2013), the two parts of Mockingjay (2014 and 2015) and the prequel The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes (2023).

When does it open outside the US?

The UK gets it on the same day as the US, Friday, Nov. 20, and Australia and New Zealand get it a day earlier, on Thursday, Nov. 19.

The table gives each country’s opening date and its local age rating where one has been published. The UK date and rating come from the BBFC. The Australian and New Zealand dates come from Hoyts, which also advertises “see it first” screenings on Nov. 18 in both countries.

The BBFC gave it a 12A for moderate violence, injury detail, threat and upsetting scenes. The cast attended a London premiere and fan screening on Wednesday, Oct. 28.

Who is in the cast of Sunrise on the Reaping?

Joseph Zada leads as young Haymitch Abernathy, with Mckenna Grace as Maysilee Donner and Ralph Fiennes as President Snow.

The ten actors below are the ones in Lionsgate’s official billing block, in the order the studio lists them. Lionsgate’s synopsis names three of the roles. Rotten Tomatoes and Fandango list the same character for every one of the other seven.

Rotten Tomatoes also lists these actors, outside the official billing block:

• Lili Taylor as Mags Flanagan (Fandango lists the same role)
• Billy Porter as Magno Stift (Fandango lists the same role)
• Ben Wang as Wyatt Callow
• Molly McCann as Louella McCoy
• Iona Bell as Lou Lou

Glenn Close and Billy Porter were announced together in June 2025. Fiennes plays Snow, the role Donald Sutherland played in the original four films and Tom Blyth played as a young man in The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes.

Are Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson and Woody Harrelson in it?

Jennifer Lawrence is: she said so on Oct. 28, and Rotten Tomatoes lists her and Josh Hutcherson. Woody Harrelson is on no official cast list, and his return rests on what Lawrence said.

• Jennifer Lawrence (Katniss Everdeen). On the Call Her Daddy podcast, released on Oct. 28, Lawrence described going back to the role as emotional, and said she worked with the same crew as before. The BBFC’s cast line for the film names her. Rotten Tomatoes and Fandango list her as Katniss.
• Josh Hutcherson (Peeta Mellark). Rotten Tomatoes and Fandango list him as Peeta, and Lawrence talked about being on set with “Josh”. He is not in Lionsgate’s ten-name billing block.
• Woody Harrelson (adult Haymitch). Lawrence’s remarks also mentioned “Woody”. Variety and Rolling Stone took that to mean Harrelson is back as the older Haymitch, and Variety called it a slip. Rolling Stone also notes that his voice was heard in the 2025 logo reveal video. So Lawrence indicated that he is in it, but Lionsgate has not confirmed it. He does not appear on Lionsgate’s billing block, Rotten Tomatoes’ cast list, Fandango’s cast list or the BBFC’s cast line.

Mild book spoiler. Why would characters from the original films show up in a story set 24 years earlier? Variety points to the novel’s epilogue: a flash-forward set years later, in which Katniss, Peeta and Haymitch appear. Variety says the film appears to be following suit.

What is Sunrise on the Reaping about?

It follows 16-year-old Haymitch Abernathy of District 12 from the morning of the reaping for the 50th Hunger Games, the Second Quarter Quell, which has twice as many tributes as usual.

According to Lionsgate’s official synopsis, the story is set in Panem 24 years before the events of The Hunger Games. Haymitch forms an unlikely alliance with Maysilee Donner. He also joins a coalition determined to challenge the Capitol’s control under President Snow.

Original-film viewers know Haymitch as Katniss and Peeta’s drunk, sardonic mentor. This film goes back to his own Games, the 50th. On the series timeline, The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes takes place at the 10th Games, this film at the 50th, and The Hunger Games at the 74th.

The film adapts Suzanne Collins’s novel of the same name. Scholastic published it on March 18, 2025, and calls it the fifth book in the series.

How many trailers are there so far?

Lionsgate has released three main trailers: the Official Teaser on Nov. 20, 2025, the Official Trailer on Apr. 13, 2026, and Official Trailer 2 on Sept. 16, 2026.

The table lists the main official trailers and featurettes on Lionsgate’s YouTube channels, plus IMAX’s cut of Trailer 2. Lionsgate has also posted a number of short promo clips of 20 to 36 seconds, which we have not listed. “Posted” is the upload date YouTube shows, and “Length” is the running time in minutes and seconds. We read the dates from YouTube’s own data on Oct. 30.

• The title reveal is a short logo video. It went up on the Lionsgate Movies channel more than a year and a half before release.
• The teaser and both numbered trailers were posted on both the Lionsgate Movies and The Hunger Games channels. The teaser went up at 5:59 a.m. PT, and both trailers at 6 a.m. PT. The teaser was the first full trailer footage of Zada as Haymitch. The two full trailers set up the reaping, the Capitol and the doubled field of tributes.
• Meet Haymitch is a featurette introducing Zada’s version of the character, posted on The Hunger Games channel.
• The Fan Edit Trailer is a shorter official cut posted on the Lionsgate Movies channel.
• Origins is a special feature posted on the Lionsgate Movies channel.
• The IMAX version of Trailer 2 was posted by IMAX on its own channel, labeled “Filmed For IMAX”.

You may see “first trailer: May 30” in some online references. That does not match YouTube: the Official Trailer went up on Apr. 13, 2026. The UK’s BBFC has also classified extra trailer cutdowns for cinema use, but those are not separate public trailers, so we have left them out. We found no new trailer on these YouTube channels after IMAX’s Oct. 27 upload.

Who made the film?

Francis Lawrence directed it from a screenplay by Billy Ray and Michael Lesslie, and Suzanne Collins is credited for the adaptation and the novel.

The credits below come from the official billing block on Lionsgate’s film site:

• Director: Francis Lawrence, who also directed Catching Fire, both Mockingjay films and The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes
• Screenplay: Billy Ray and Michael Lesslie
• Adapted by: Suzanne Collins
• Based on the novel by: Suzanne Collins
• Producers: Nina Jacobson, Brad Simpson and Francis Lawrence

Rotten Tomatoes and TheWrap name Color Force, Jacobson and Simpson’s company, as the production company. Both also list Cameron MacConomy as an executive producer. James Newton Howard, whose credits include The Hunger Games, is behind the score.

How long is Sunrise on the Reaping, and what is it rated?

It is rated PG-13 in the US, and the BBFC times it at 158 minutes 5 seconds, or about 2 hours 38 minutes.

According to Rotten Tomatoes, the PG-13 rating is for strong violence, bloody images, disturbing material, some smoking and teen drinking. The listings don’t agree on the runtime:

• The BBFC classified the 2D and 3D versions at 158 minutes 5 seconds, and the IMAX version at 157 minutes 59 seconds.
• Rotten Tomatoes lists 2 hours 38 minutes.
• Fandango, and Hoyts in Australia and New Zealand, list 2 hours 30 minutes.

The BBFC times the actual film submitted for classification, so its figure is the more precise one. The run time in the US may not match the UK cut to the second.

What is on the Sunrise on the Reaping soundtrack?

There are two albums: The Album, a collection of songs out Nov. 13, and James Newton Howard’s score, out Nov. 20, the day the film opens.

Universal Music says The Album comes out on MCA and features Noah Kahan, The Smashing Pumpkins and 27 other artists. Three tracks are out so far:

• “Draw You Out” by Noah Kahan, the lead single, released Oct. 2
• “Black Stars” by The Smashing Pumpkins, released Oct. 16
• “Favor” by Gigi Perez, whose lyric video went up at 9 p.m. PT on Oct. 29 (4 a.m. UTC on Oct. 30)

The score album has 35 tracks, and its first track came out on Oct. 23. We have left out the rest of its track list on purpose: some cue titles give away plot points.

Are there any Sunrise on the Reaping reviews yet?

No: full reviews have not been published, and Rotten Tomatoes showed 0 critic reviews and no score when we checked at 2:21 a.m. ET on Oct. 30.

Lionsgate let people at the Oct. 28 London screenings post short first reactions on social media. Entertainment press roundups describe those reactions as broadly positive. Social reactions are not reviews, though. The Hollywood Reporter says full reviews are expected much closer to the Nov. 20 release.

Is Sunrise on the Reaping streaming, and where are the earlier films?

No streaming date has been announced for Sunrise on the Reaping, so for now it is a theaters-only release.

If you want to catch up first, JustWatch’s US listings, read on Oct. 30, show all five earlier films:

• On subscription: Hulu, and the Lionsgate+ channel on Amazon Prime Video, though JustWatch flagged the Lionsgate+ listings as leaving within about two weeks when we checked on Oct. 30
• To rent or buy: Prime Video, the Apple TV store and Fandango at Home

Streaming catalogs change, so check the service before you plan a marathon around it.