Movies· Theatrical premiere
When Is The Hunger Games Sunrise on the Reaping?Premiere date
Scroll to release dateWhen does Sunrise on the Reaping premiere? Nov 20, 2026 Lionsgate — Zada as young Haymitch; Lawrence; ≠ Songbirds 2.
Current target date: Friday, November 20, 2026 (Theatrical premiere). We update this page when studios or publishers move the window.
Sunrise on the Reaping opens Nov 20, 2026. Zada Haymitch; Lawrence; 50th Games. ≠ Ballad of Songbirds Part Two.
Theatrical premiere
Friday, November 20, 2026
November 20, 2026 — Haymitch’s Quarter Quell finally gets a Lionsgate Friday
The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping opens Friday, November 20, 2026. Francis Lawrence reunites with Color Force for Suzanne Collins’ 2025 novel — Joseph Zada as young Haymitch Abernathy surviving the 50th Hunger Games, the second Quarter Quell that doubled the tributes.
Trailers have already circulated (anniversary teaser Nov 20, 2025; another April 2026). This is not a Mockingjay Part 3 and not a Songbirds reissue — it’s the Haymitch prequel between Snow’s rise and Katniss’s reaping.
Confirmed: Nov 20 2026 Haymitch prequel — not Songbirds 2, not a 2027 hold
Confirmed: November 20, 2026 Lionsgate/IMAX; Lawrence; Zada as Haymitch; ensemble including Peak (Lenore Dove), Grace (Maysilee), Fiennes (Snow), Fanning (Effie), Culkin (Caesar), Close (Drusilla), Plemons (Plutarch). Not confirmed as Woody Harrelson returning in the lead, as a TV series, or as undated. Fake “2025 theatrical” stubs confuse the book drop with the film.
From Collins’ new book to the November arena
- Mar 2025 — Sunrise on the Reaping novel publishes.
- 2025 — Lionsgate dates Nov 20, 2026; Lawrence + Zada locked.
- Nov 20, 2025 — teaser drops exactly one year out.
- Apr 2026 — second trailer expands cast glimpses.
- Nov 20, 2026 — theatrical (IMAX).
Before November 2026 — pick the right Panem ticket
- Marquee: Sunrise on the Reaping / Nov 20, 2026 — Lionsgate.
- Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes (2023) is already out — different prequel.
- Book came March 2025; movie is November 2026 — don’t mix those dates.
- IMAX listings should say Sunrise / Haymitch, not a Mockingjay remaster.
- Expect spoiler walls — Quarter Quell beats are novel-known.
The hardest casting call wasn’t Snow or Effie — it was finding a Haymitch who could become Woody Harrelson’s ghost
Producers called casting young Haymitch one of the production’s biggest challenges: mischievous spark now, District 12 mentor trauma later. Joseph Zada got the chair; the supporting Panem map filled with Fiennes’s Snow, Fanning’s Effie, Culkin’s Caesar, and Close’s Drusilla. The interesting fact isn’t “another Hunger Games movie” — it’s that Lionsgate bet a November 20, 2026 IMAX Friday on the drunk mentor’s origin before the novel was even a year old in theaters’ minds.
SEO that still dates this as Songbirds Part Two or a 2025 open is arguing with the teaser that dropped on the anniversary of the real Friday.
Frequently asked questions
Quick answers about this release date.
1When does Sunrise on the Reaping open?
November 20, 2026 in U.S. theaters from Lionsgate, including IMAX. That is the locked Friday for The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping.
2Whose story is it?
Young Haymitch Abernathy in the 50th Hunger Games (the second Quarter Quell). Joseph Zada plays Haymitch — the role Woody Harrelson originated as an adult in the original films.
3Is Francis Lawrence directing again?
Yes. Lawrence returns after Catching Fire, both Mockingjay parts, and The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes. Billy Ray (first Hunger Games film) and Michael Lesslie write; Color Force produces.
4Is this Ballad of Songbirds Part Two?
No. Songbirds (2023) was young Coriolanus Snow. Sunrise adapts Collins’ 2025 novel about Haymitch decades later — a prequel to Katniss’s games and a later chapter than Songbirds, not a direct sequel title.
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