Check on your 20-something-year-old friends. News has officially dropped that Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson are reviving their iconic roles as Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark in The Hunger Games: Sunrise On The Reaping.
It’s been more than a decade since the pair first brought the characters to life, anchoring a franchise that went on to make more than $3.3 billion worldwide. Their last appearance was in 2015’s Mockingjay – Part 2, which closed with Katniss and Peeta living quietly with their children. Now, they’re set to return in what’s being described as a flash-forward sequence within the upcoming prequel film.
Here's what we know so far.
Why are they in the film?
It's a question everyone is asking… if Sunrise on the Reaping is a prequel set before Katniss (Lawrence) and Peeta (Hutcherson) were even born in the world of Panem, then how are their characters returning for the film?
For those who've read the book – you'll know that their characters don't magically time travel back to the arena. In fact, most fans are pretty certain they'll be reprising their roles for an epilogue that fast-forwards into the future.
The real question is – what might we be fast-forwarding to? And why the need to film new scenes with both actors? Given that young Haymitch Abernathy is another District 12 contestant (the first to win the games), and a revolutionary in his own right, we're thinking this might come in the form of some future redemption arc for his character. Likely with a cameo from Woody Harrelson, playing Haymitch all-grown-up. (You may have noticed his voice in the Sunrise on the Reaping trailer released earlier this year, which all-but-confirmed his return to the franchise too.)
What will their roles be?
At this stage, no specific details have been shared, and Lionsgate are yet to respond to requests for comment. What we do know, however, is that Sunrise On The Reaping takes place 24 years before the events in The Hunger Games. In other words, long before Katniss or Peeta would have been born.
The story follows the morning of the reaping for the 50th Hunger Games, a moment fans will recognise as the Quarter Quell that once pitted Haymitch Abernathy against the Capitol.
Because of this timeline, it’s widely assumed that Lawrence and Hutcherson will appear only in a forward-jumping sequence, possibly revisiting their Games era, or picking up sometime after we last saw them.
The prequel itself already has a stacked cast, including Ralph Fiennes as President Snow, Jesse Plemons as Plutarch Heavensbee, Kelvin Harrison Jr. as Beetee, Kieran Culkin as Caesar Flickerman, and Elle Fanning as Effie Trinket, with Joseph Zada, Glenn Close, Mckenna Grace, Maya Hawke and Whitney Peak rounding out the ensemble.
Directed by Francis Lawrence, Sunrise On The Reaping lands in cinemas on November 20, 2026 — now with two nostalgic cameo fans (and the RUSSH team) will be counting down for.
