May the Odds Be Ever in Our Favor as Fans Head Back to Panem in a New Trailer for Haymitch’s Quarter Quell
It’s almost time for the world of The Hunger Games to put us through the emotional wringer again. On Monday, Lionsgate released the first full trailer for The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping, ahead of its debut in theaters on Friday, November 20th.
The trailer gives us the best look yet at the story of young Haymitch Abernathy (Joseph Zada), as he competes in the 50th Hunger Games. With twice the number of tributes forced to compete, and a growing resistance movement recruiting Haymitch to their cause, the events of the Games completely change his life forever.
The Sunrise on the Reaping trailer showcases all of that, and then some… while still finding some ways to genuinely surprise viewers. Plenty of twists and turns are still preserved for those who haven’t read Suzanne Collins’ book yet, in a way that is almost meta given how media spin and “propos” factor into the story.
But as someone who voraciously read Sunrise on the Reaping as soon as it was released, my surprise towards the trailer is in so much of the execution. The confrontation between Haymitch and President Coriolanus Snow (Ralph Fiennes) looks almost exactly like I had imagined it in my head, the ’70s aesthetic choices for this era of Panem continue to be inspired, and the younger versions of existing franchise characters are pretty perfectly cast. (Elle Fanning’s Effie Trinket and Kelvin Harrison Jr.’s Beetee Latier especially stand out.) We even get a new version of the iconic aspect ratio change that the franchise previously used in Catching Fire. Given the track record of the saga’s previous movies, I had no doubt that Sunrise on the Reaping would deliver… but it’s still astonishing to see just how well they do it.
What Is The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping About?
The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping will revisit the world of Panem 24 years before the events of The Hunger Games, starting on the morning of the reaping of the 50th Hunger Games, also known as the Second Quarter Quell. In addition to Zada, the cast of the film also includes Glenn Close as Drusilla Sickle, Kieran Culkin as Caesar Flickerman, Mckenna Grace as Maysilee Donner, Maya Hawke as Wiress, Lili Taylor as Mags, and Whitney Peak as Lenore Dove.
Collins’ novel was released in March of 2025 and quickly earned the biggest debut of the Hunger Games franchise so far, with over 1.5 million copies sold worldwide just within the first week.
“Suzanne Collins is a master storyteller and our creative north star,” Adam Fogelson, chair of the Lionsgate Motion Picture Group, said in a statement when the movie was first announced. “We couldn’t be more fortunate than to be guided and trusted by a collaborator whose talent and imagination are so consistently brilliant. We know Hunger Games fans worldwide will be spellbound by where Suzanne has focused this next extraordinary story. The Second Quarter Quell is legendary and looms large over the history of the Games, even into the time of Katniss Everdeen a quarter-century later. Like fans around the globe, we are eagerly anticipating this exciting return to Panem.”
The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping will be released exclusively in theaters on Friday, November 20th.
(featured image: Lionsgate)
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