‘Hunger Games Sunrise on the Reaping’ opens in South African cinemas on Friday, 20 November 2026, taking the franchise back to the 50th Hunger Games and a teenage Haymitch Abernathy.
According to Empire Entertainment, the film’s South African distributor, the Lionsgate prequel runs for 150 minutes and is exclusive to cinemas. Francis Lawrence directs, Joseph Zada plays the young Haymitch, and the story is set 24 years before the first film.
What is ‘Hunger Games Sunrise on the Reaping’ about?
The film adapts the 2025 novel by Suzanne Collins and follows 16-year-old Haymitch, reaped from District 12 for the 50th Hunger Games.
That edition is a Quarter Quell, an anniversary Games with a twist, and this time each district must send twice the usual number of tributes to the Capitol, so the arena is twice as crowded.
Viewers of the original films already know where Haymitch ends up: the bitter, hard-drinking mentor played by Woody Harrelson. That is the hook for the prequel, which asks what turned a hopeful teenager into that man.
Lawrence says the story lets tragedy and hope exist at the same time.
“By far the most emotional story that Suzanne Collins has written,” Francis Lawrence said.
‘Hunger Games Sunrise on the Reaping’ cast and characters
Zada, an Australian actor, leads as Haymitch. Elle Fanning plays a younger Effie Trinket, Jesse Plemons is a younger Plutarch Heavensbee, Kieran Culkin is Caesar Flickerman, Ralph Fiennes plays President Snow and Glenn Close is Drusilla Sickle.
Mckenna Grace plays Maysilee Donner, with Maya Hawke as Wiress and Kelvin Harrison Jr. as Beetee.
Both young leads have said what they want audiences to take away. Zada said he hopes viewers understand that “change takes longer than that a lot of the time and not to give up,” while Grace is bracing the audience for the emotional hit:
“It’s gonna be really, really sad. I keep reminding everybody how sad it’s going to be,” Mckenna Grace said.
What ‘Hunger Games Sunrise on the Reaping’ looks like on screen
Filming began in late July 2025 in the mountains of Somiedo and Teverga in Spain and wrapped in Berlin on Friday, 28 November 2025. The Capitol’s pageantry gets a 1970s-inspired look, with tight trousers, capes, Doc Martens and pristine white outfits for the tributes. Grace says the costumes are very on brand for the Capitol:
“I feel like it’s very President Snow and very Capitol how impractical those costumes are, and just like, the ridiculousness of it to send out all of these kids in these pristine white outfits,” Mckenna Grace said.
Lionsgate has form this year: its biopic Michael opened on Friday, 24 April 2026 with $217 million worldwide, the biggest opening ever for a music film. The studio has put a reported $170 million to $200 million behind this prequel, which also stars Billy Porter and Whitney Peak.
Collins announced the novel in June 2024, and Lionsgate secured the adaptation rights when the book was revealed. It reached shelves on Tuesday, 18 March 2025, and four months later cameras rolled in the Spanish mountains, a gap short enough that the adaptation moved from page to set within a single year.
Sources
- Empire Entertainment, The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping (South African release page)
- Den of Geek, Hunger Games' Mckenna Grace and Joseph Zada give exclusive look at Sunrise on the Reaping (8 October 2026)
- Variety Australia, Mckenna Grace says Joseph Zada is set to be the biggest star ever (19 June 2026)
- Variety Australia, first look at Joseph Zada's young Haymitch (20 November 2025)
- TheWrap, first Sunrise on the Reaping trailer (20 November 2025)
- Box Office Pro, Lionsgate announces international partners for The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping (16 July 2025)
- Wikipedia, The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping
- Swisher Post, Michael Jackson biopic Michael box office 2026
