Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson Return for ‘Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping’
Photo Credit: Murray Close
A decade after their final bow as Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark, Lawrence and Hutcherson step back into Panem for the 2026 prequel.
Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson are officially returning to the world that launched them into global superstardom. The pair will appear in Lionsgate’s upcoming franchise prequel, The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping, set to hit theaters on November 20, 2026.
Sources confirm the actors will reprise their iconic roles as Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark in what is expected to be a flash-forward sequence. While the studio is keeping narrative details locked down, the appearance marks the first time Lawrence and Hutcherson have reunited on-screen in the franchise since Mockingjay — Part 2 in 2015.
Francis Lawrence, who directed four previous Hunger Games films, returns to helm the adaptation of Suzanne Collins’ bestselling novel. The cast for Sunrise on the Reaping has already generated significant buzz, anchored by Ralph Fiennes as President Snow and Jesse Plemons as Plutarch Heavensbee, alongside Kelvin Harrison Jr., Kieran Culkin, Elle Fanning, Joseph Zada, Glenn Close, Mckenna Grace, Maya Hawke, and Whitney Peak.
The story returns to Panem long before Katniss volunteered as tribute. Collins’ book unfolds during the reaping for the 50th Hunger Games, twenty-four years prior to the events of the original 2008 novel. The Quarter Quell backdrop, paired with a new generation of Capitol power players and tributes, primes the film to deepen the mythology of one of modern cinema’s most successful franchises.
The original five Hunger Games films have earned more than $3.3 billion worldwide, with Lawrence and Hutcherson’s performances defining an era of blockbuster YA storytelling. Their return arrives amid renewed awards attention for Lawrence, who just received a Golden Globe nomination for Die My Love, and rising visibility for Hutcherson following Five Nights at Freddy’s 2.
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Francis Lawrence directs Sunrise on the Reaping from a script by Billy Ray, with Nina Jacobson and Brad Simpson producing for Color Force and Cameron MacConomy serving as executive producer. The film follows the 2023 prequel The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, which revisited President Snow’s early years and starred Rachel Zegler, Tom Blyth, and Hunter Schafer.
With Lawrence and Hutcherson reentering the franchise, Sunrise on the Reaping instantly becomes one of 2026’s most anticipated films—and one of Lionsgate’s biggest theatrical bets of the decade.
The InSneider was first to report on Lawrence and Hutcherson being involved.
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