Jennifer Lawrence Returns as Hunger Games Prequel Brings Back More Fan Favorites
Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson are heading back to Panem, reuniting as Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark in Lionsgate’s prequel The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping — their first on-screen team-up since the original films.
Well, Lionsgate found a way to get the band back together without breaking the timeline. Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson are set to pop up in the Hunger Games prequel, 'The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping' — their first on-screen reunion as Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark since the original run wrapped.
How they fit Katniss and Peeta into a story set 24 years earlier
The movie takes place two decades-plus before Katniss ever volunteers, but per Deadline, the film uses a framing device straight out of Suzanne Collins' new book to bring the veterans back. Adult Katniss and Peeta will be seen listening as Haymitch Abernathy recounts his own Games. It is a neat narrative bridge: you get the prequel story in full, plus a quick glimpse of where Katniss and Peeta are later in life. Smart, clean, no timey-wimey mess.
What 'Sunrise on the Reaping' is actually about
This one centers on a 16-year-old Haymitch, played by Joseph Zada. The story kicks off on the morning of the reaping for the 50th Hunger Games — the Second Quarter Quell — the notorious edition that doubled the headcount to 48 tributes. Haymitch is the clever District 12 kid who has to survive that nightmare and eventually becomes the world-weary mentor we know from Katniss and Peeta's era.
- Director: Francis Lawrence, back at the helm as the franchise regular.
- Katniss and Peeta: Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson will appear via the Haymitch storytelling frame.
- Timeline: Set 24 years before Katniss volunteers in the original saga.
- Hype check: The first teaser hit 109 million views in 24 hours.
- Release date: November 20, 2026.
Yes, those casting rumors were real
This confirmation ends months of speculation. Hutcherson even played coy about it over the summer, telling Brit + Co:
'That'd be cool. No, I know nothing in that world right now.'
'Hunger Games is amazing, and I've loved it for many years and I will love it forever.'
Timing-wise, their return lines up with both stars riding hot streaks: Lawrence just scored her seventh Golden Globe nomination for 'Die My Love,' and Hutcherson was part of the massive 64 million dollar opening of 'Five Nights at Freddy's 2.'
The bottom line
New story, old favorites. 'Sunrise on the Reaping' tells Haymitch's brutal origin during the Second Quarter Quell, while the Katniss and Peeta framing device lets Lawrence and Hutcherson step back in without breaking the prequel. If the teaser numbers are any sign, fans are more than ready to go back to Panem.