Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson are heading back to Panem—and that alone is enough to garner attention from longtime Hunger Games fans. After nearly a decade from the franchise, Lawrence will reprise her role as Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping, alongside Josh Hutcherson’s Peeta Mellark. Their return comes as part of the upcoming prequel film that revisits one of the darkest chapters in the series’ history.
Lawrence and Hutcherson will appear in the movie in limited but meaningful roles tied to how the storyline is framed. While Sunrise on the Reaping primarily focuses on a young Haymitch Abernathy, the inclusion of Katniss and Peeta helps connect the prequel to the original trilogy. Their reappearance gives fans a familiar anchor in an otherwise new chapter.
What Sunrise on the Reaping is About
The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping adapts Suzanne Collins’ 2025 novel of the same name. The story takes place 24 years before the events of The Hunger Games, centering on the 50th Hunger Games, also known as the Second Quarter Quell. In this brutal edition of the Games, each district is forced to send four tributes instead of the usual two.
The film follows Haymitch Abernathy as a teenager, long before he becomes the sharp-tongued, bitter, alcoholic mentor that audiences met through Woody Harrelson in the original movies. His victory in the 50th Games is one of the most traumatic in Panem’s history, and the prequel digs into how that experience made him who he is in the original Hunger Games. This story is set between The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes and the OG trilogy, expanding the franchise timeline without retelling the familiar background.
How Jennifer Lawrence Fits into the Story
Jennifer Lawrence’s appearance is expected to mirror the structure used in the book’s epilogue. In the novel, an older Haymitch reflects on his past while speaking to Katniss and Peeta years after the rebellion. This allows Lawrence and Hutcherson to appear without disrupting the timeline or shifting focus from Haymitch’s story.
While Lionsgate hasn’t revealed how extensive their scenes will be, the studio confirmed their involvement as intentional and story driven. Their return is meant to reinforce continuity and remind viewers where Haymitch’s journey eventually leads. For Hunger Games fans who follow Katniss and Peeta through the original four films, their presence adds emotional weight instead of nostalgia for its own sake.
A New Cast Steps into the Arena
The lead role of young Haymitch will be played by Joseph Zada, with Whitney Peak portraying Lenore Dove Baird, a key figure in Haymitch’s life during the Games. The cast also includes Ralph Fiennes as a younger President Snow, along with Elle Fanning, Jesse Plemons, Kieran Culkin, Glenn Close, Kelvin Harrison Jr., Maya Hawke, McKenna Grace, and Billy Porter.
Francis Lawrence returns as director, continuing the long relationship with the franchise after helming Catching Fire and both of the Mockingjay movies. His involvement provides creative continuance, especially as the story revisits one of the most morally complex events in Panem’s sordid past.
How Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson’s Reappearance Makes a Difference
Jennifer Lawrence’s portrayal of Katniss Everdeen remains one of the defining performances of the franchise and a major turning point in her career. Her return signals that the studio is treating Sunrise on the Reaping as more than a standalone prequel. It’s positioned as a direct extension of the world that audiences already recognize.
For longtime fans, seeing Katniss and Peeta again adds credibility to the project, reassuring viewers that the story respects the emotional core of the original movies. It also underscores the long-term impact of the Hunger Games themselves, showing how one generation’s trauma continues to echo decades later.
The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping is scheduled for theatrical release on November 20, 2026.