The Hunger Games is heading back to Panem with The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping, a prequel that takes audiences 24 years before the original story to reveal the brutal Games that shaped Haymitch Abernathy.
Directed by Francis Lawrence from a screenplay by Billy Ray, the film stars Joseph Zada as the young Haymitch, beginning on the morning of the reaping for the 50th Hunger Games, known as the Second Quarter Quell. The story follows Haymitch into the arena, where he forms an unlikely alliance with fellow tribute Maysilee Donner, played by Mckenna Grace, while joining a larger effort to challenge the Capitol and President Snow, portrayed by Ralph Fiennes.
As the Games become increasingly deadly, Haymitch begins looking for a way to fight the system from inside the arena. His actions will eventually help set the rebellion in motion, giving the new film a direct connection to the events that shaped Panem decades later.
The Hunger Games franchise remains one of the biggest properties in modern entertainment, with its five novels selling more than 100 million copies worldwide and five films earning over $3.4 billion globally. The Sunrise on the Reaping novel also became the biggest debut in Suzanne Collins’ series.
The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping arrives in theaters November 20.
