Suzanne Collins, the author of The Hunger Games’ novels, has announced a second prequel book will be released in March 2025- with a film following the year after.
The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping will let fans return to the post-apocalyptic world of Panem and reunite with beloved characters from the original trilogy. The story will follow the 50th Hunger Games and the District 12 tribute, Haymitch Abernathy: the alcoholic, troubled yet treasured mentor to Katniss and Peeta we meet in the original trilogy.
Similar to The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, the new novel will follow a unique Hunger Games. Where the third Quarter Quell saw tributes reaped from the existing pool of victors, the second sent twice as many tributes into the arena.
The original trilogy informs fans who wins the Second Quarter Quell; the Games (usually) have only one survivor, and these are the games Haymitch competed in. The Catching Fire book even details exactly how Haymitch won his games. However, Collins plans to bring the twists and turns in other ways, hoping that fans knowing the outcome of the games won’t impact the tension of the tale.
When writing the upcoming novel, Collins was inspired by Scottish philosopher David Humes, using his ideas to explore earlier ideas of propaganda and fear-mongering that drive The Hunger Games series: “With Sunrise on the Reaping, I was inspired by David Hume’s idea of implicit submission and, in his words, ‘the easiness with which the many are governed by the few,'” Collins said in a statement.
“The story also lent itself to a deeper dive into the use of propaganda and the power of those who control the narrative. The question ‘Real or not real?’ seems more pressing to me every day.”
After the success of the last film, The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, fans will be expecting another high quality project from the writer.
Francis Lawrence is set to return to direct the new film, after directing all The Hunger Games’ but the first. The film is set to be released in November 2026.
Feature image credit: Lionsgate
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