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The Hunger Games touches grass (and pushes the sports television aesthetic) in first Sunrise on the Reaping first teaser

You have one year to emotionally prepare yourself for The Hunger Games prequel movie, Sunrise on the Reaping

A still from the Sunrise on the Reaping trailer — Image credit: Lionsgate

News by Jules Chin Greene, Staff Writer

Published on Thu Nov 20 2025

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The world has only gotten more dystopian since Suzanne Collins' firstThe Hunger Games book appeared in 2008 - and this is why the movie adaptations have, well, felt more and more urgent with each passing year. Now, fresh off the release of the latest book earlier this year, Lionsgate has unveiled the first teaser for its upcoming adaptation, The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping.

If you remember, Sunrise on the Reaping is a prequel story that follows Haymitch Abernathy, a kid from Panem's District 12 who would eventually grow up to become the hard-drinking, sardonic mentor to Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark in the first Hunger Games books and films. His adult counterpart was played by Woody Harrelson with a Kurt Cobain wig on, and in the teaser for Sunrise on the Reaping, there's a voiceover that sounds remarkably like Harrelson towards the end of the video. Check it out below.

Some other things that are worth noting: this edition of The Hunger Games has a distinctly Midsommar (or The Wicker Man, whichever suits you best) feel to it, with the tributes gathered around the cornucopia in a lush, flowery, pastorally mountainous landscape. It's a big difference from the Frank Gehry-esque metal cornucopia featured in the first Hunger Games movie we saw onscreen back in 2012. The trailer also pushes the sports television metaphor with its stylized countdown visuals, making the viewer curiously complicit in the inevitable death and destruction that is about to follow.

Additionally, you'll notice that one of the tributes is played by Ben Wang, who has been on a roll lately with films depicting young people dying in state-sanctioned feats of physical prowess. Wang cranked out a gutwrenching performance as Hank Olson in The Long Walk's film adaptation earlier this year. Obviously, it's always good to see Wang grace the big screen, but man, at least he had the chance to play a character under less stressful circumstances in Karate Kid: Legends this spring.

Anyways, The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping will be out November 20, 2026.

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Jules Chin Greene: Jules Chin Greene is a journalist and Jack Kirby enthusiast. He has written about comics, video games, movies, and television for sites such as Nerdist, AIPT, and Multiverse of Color.