Lionsgate Drops Sunrise on the Reaping Trailer

Sunrise on the Reaping now has a full trailer. Lionsgate is selling it as an action story first and a tragedy second, and that's the pitch they're leading with. The film is a sequel to 2023's Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes and a prequel that leads directly into the events of The Hunger Games, the 2012 movie that started the whole franchise, which means it's carrying the weight of a series that's been building for over a decade. And they don't want you to forget it.

The trailer arrived alongside another piece of franchise news: Laika Studios also released a trailer for Wildwood, its stop-motion animated feature, which has been building buzz for months.

Haymitch Gets His Arena Moment

The main protagonist here is a young Haymitch Abernathy, the future District 12 mentor to Katniss and Peeta. Woody Harrelson played the older version of that character across the original films, a jaded, drunken cynic who hides a stubborn streak of hope underneath. Now audiences get to see how he got that way.

The official synopsis lays out the setup. Set in Panem 24 years before the events of The Hunger Games, the story follows Haymitch, played by Joseph Zada, into the arena. There he forms an unlikely alliance with a fellow tribute named Maysilee Donner, played by Mckenna Grace, and joins a coalition determined to challenge the Capitol's control under President Snow, played by Ralph Fiennes.

As the competition unfolds, Haymitch risks everything to take down the Games from within the arena, setting in motion the rebellion that will change Panem forever.

That line from the official synopsis tells you what kind of movie this is. It's not a quiet character study. And it isn't some slow, moody portrait of a person sitting alone with their thoughts while the world drifts past them without any real consequence or sharp edge. It's a story about a tribute who decides the Games themselves are the target.

The Second Quarter Quell Explained

This Games has a name. And it has a rule set that matters. The film covers the 50th Hunger Games, also known as the Second Quarter Quell, a edition that stands apart because of what it demands from every district. In this edition, each district is required to send twice as many tributes to the Capitol to compete to the death. That's the rule. It's brutal. They're children. We've seen it before.

That doubling is the mechanical reason. So Haymitch ends up in the arena with people he knows. The cast includes Ben Wang as Wyatt and Molly McCann as Louella, Haymitch's fellow District 12 tributes, who aren't strangers thrown together by chance but neighbors, and that raises the emotional cost of every scene.

Here is the part the marketing cannot hide: anyone who has read the books or watched the films already knows Haymitch wins his Games. The suspense was never about the outcome. It is about how he pulls it off and what he loses in the process.

That is a strange position for a blockbuster trailer to occupy. Most franchise films guard their endings. This one is advertising a story where the destination is public knowledge and the journey is the product. Lionsgate is betting that audiences will show up for the cost, not the surprise.

A Cast Built From Familiar Faces

The ensemble is unusually deep for a prequel. Most names map onto characters fans already know from later in the timeline. The list is long, but each role carries a thread back to the original films, and that's the kind of connective tissue that makes a prequel feel like it's been woven into a story we've already watched unfold.

• Jesse Plemons plays a young cameraman named Plutarch
• Glenn Close plays District 12 chaperone Drusilla Sickle
• Kieran Culkin plays a young Caesar Flickerman, host of the Games
• Elle Fanning plays a young Effie Trinket, a stylist
• Billy Porter plays another stylist, Magno Stift
• Maya Hawke plays a young Wiress, winner of the prior year's Games
• Lili Taylor plays the young Mags Flanagan, winner of the 11th Games
• Kelvin Harrison Jr. plays Beetee Latier, a prior winner and father to District 3 tribute Ampert, played by Percy Daggs IV
• Whitney Peak plays Haymitch's girlfriend, Lenore Dove Baird

Two more names matter here. For anyone tracking the Everdeen family tree, they're worth noting. We will meet Asterid March, played by Grace Ackary, who is Maysilee's best friend and, as the story unfolds, the future mother to Katniss, a connection that ties these characters together in ways we've only begun to see. And we will also meet Burdock Everdeen, played by Scot Greenan, the future father to Katniss. That's the link.

And then there is the cameo question. Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson will reprise their respective roles as Katniss and Peeta, most likely in a flash-forward that sets up the segue into the original film. That is a bridge, not a subplot. It exists to hand the audience back to the 2012 movie.

Wildwood Arrives With Its Own Momentum

Laika's Wildwood is riding a different kind of attention. An extended teaser released in May racked up over 90 million views, helped along by the studio's reputation and some very beautiful visuals. The first full trailer followed last month, set to a haunting cover of Avicii's "Wake Me Up."

Twelve-year-old Prue McKee is at the center of it. She's out walking with her baby brother, Mac, when she discovers the forest. A murder of crows swoops down and carries him away, and Prue finds the Wilderness while hunting for him, a search that pulls her into a place she never knew existed. Her schoolmate, Curtis Mehlberg, follows her. And they're both able to enter that magical world.

What follows is a fantastical adventure. The pair encounters a mysterious woman named Alexandra, who has lost her son, along with coyotes, bandits, and some pretty big secrets.

Voices Behind the Wilderness

Peyton Elizabeth Lee voices Prue, Jacob Tremblay voices Curtis, and Carey Mulligan voices Alexandra. The supporting cast is stacked: Angela Bassett as a giant golden eagle called the General, Jake Johnson and Maya Erskine as Prue's parents, and Arthur Knight as her baby brother, Mac.

The film also features Mahershala Ali as Brendan the Bandit King, Jemaine Clement as Roger Swindon, Awkwafina as a rat named Septima, Charlie Day as a coyote named Dmitri, Amandla Stenberg as Niamh, Tom Waits as Maxim, Tantoo Cardinal as Iphigenia, Richard E. Grant as the wise old Owl Rex, Marc Evan Jackson as Lars Svik, and Len Cariou as Richard. Rob Delaney, Olafur Darri Olafsson, and Blythe Danner will voice as-yet-undisclosed roles.

Two Release Dates, One Box Office Window

The scheduling is worth pausing on. Wildwood opens in theaters on October 23. The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping opens on November 20. That puts roughly a month between them, which keeps the two films from cannibalizing each other's opening weekends while still stacking the fall and early winter calendar for theater owners.

For Lionsgate, the calculation is simpler. The Hunger Games brand has already proven it can survive a prequel, and Sunrise on the Reaping has something Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes did not: a protagonist audiences already love from the original run, seen at the age when he was still worth rooting for.

Whether that affection translates into tickets is the open question. But the trailer promises an arena story with a rebellion baked into its ending, and that's the hook they're selling. The books already told readers how that rebellion starts. Now the films have to make the telling feel new.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the official synopsis of Sunrise on the Reaping?

Set in Panem 24 years before the events of The Hunger Games, the story follows Haymitch, played by Joseph Zada, into the arena. There he forms an unlikely alliance with a fellow tribute named Maysilee Donner, played by Mckenna Grace, and joins a coalition determined to challenge the Capitol's control under President Snow, played by Ralph Fiennes. As the competition unfolds, Haymitch risks everything to take down the Games from within the arena, setting in motion the rebellion that will change Panem forever.

Why does the Second Quarter Quell stand apart from other Hunger Games editions?

The film covers the 50th Hunger Games, also known as the Second Quarter Quell, a edition that stands apart because of what it demands from every district. In this edition, each district is required to send twice as many tributes to the Capitol to compete to the death. That doubling is the mechanical reason Haymitch ends up in the arena with people he knows.

How does the marketing handle the fact that audiences already know Haymitch wins his Games?

The article notes that anyone who has read the books or watched the films already knows Haymitch wins his Games, so the suspense was never about the outcome. It is about how he pulls it off and what he loses in the process. Lionsgate is betting that audiences will show up for the cost, not the surprise.

Who are some of the cast members playing characters connected to the original films?

The ensemble includes Jesse Plemons as a young cameraman named Plutarch, Glenn Close as District 12 chaperone Drusilla Sickle, Kieran Culkin as a young Caesar Flickerman, Elle Fanning as a young Effie Trinket, and Billy Porter as another stylist, Magno Stift. The list also features Maya Hawke as a young Wiress, Lili Taylor as the young Mags Flanagan, Kelvin Harrison Jr. as Beetee Latier, and Whitney Peak as Haymitch's girlfriend, Lenore Dove Baird. Additionally, we will meet Asterid March, played by Grace Ackary, who is Maysilee's best friend and the future mother to Katniss, and Burdock Everdeen, played by Scot Greenan, the future father to Katniss.

When do Wildwood and The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping open in theaters?

Wildwood opens in theaters on October 23. The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping opens on November 20. That puts roughly a month between them, which keeps the two films from cannibalizing each other's opening weekends.