Jennifer Lawrence On Reprising ‘Hunger Games’ Role For ‘Sunrise On The Reaping’: “It Was So Emotional”
Jennifer Lawrence has confirmed she will return as Katniss Everdeen in *The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping*, reuniting with Josh Hutcherson and Woody Harrelson. She described seeing Hutcherson again as emotional and said the return felt special because much of the original crew was involved.
The prequel is set 24 years before the first film and follows young Haymitch Abernathy, played by Joseph Zada, during the 50th Hunger Games, which has twice as many tributes. Directed by Francis Lawrence, it also stars Ralph Fiennes, Glenn Close and Maya Hawke, and is due in cinemas on 20 November 2026.
In short
- Jennifer Lawrence returns as Katniss in the new prequel.
- She reunited with Josh Hutcherson and Woody Harrelson.
- The film opens in cinemas on 20 November 2026.
Explained simply
The Hunger Games is a film series based on Suzanne Collins’s novels, set in a future country where the ruling Capitol forces young people from its districts to compete in deadly televised contests. Katniss Everdeen, played by Jennifer Lawrence, became the central figure in the original films, while Haymitch Abernathy was an older survivor who later advised her.
Sunrise on the Reaping goes back to Haymitch’s youth, 24 years before the first film, when he competes in the 50th Hunger Games. That contest has twice the usual number of young participants, known as tributes. The film brings back Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson and Woody Harrelson, alongside a cast playing younger characters and other figures from the series’ world.