After last year’s film adaptation of the 2020 novel The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes brought the Hunger Games franchise back into the spotlight, fans called for even more content, specifically something from Haymitch Abernathy’s point of view. Although some fans were only joking and most likely did not expect their dreams to come true, author Suzanne Collins evidently heard their cries: on June 6th, a new book called Sunrise on the Reaping was announced. And that’s not all: almost immediately after the book announcement, Lionsgate revealed that a movie adaptation is already in the works.
According to Scholastic, “Sunrise on the Reaping will revisit the world of Panem twenty-four years before the events of The Hunger Games, starting on the morning of the reaping of the Fiftieth Hunger Games, also known as the Second Quarter Quell.” This is the Games that Haymitch won, so it’s easy to assume that the book will be from his point of view; however, some fans speculate that this may not be the case. TikTok user @grapiedeltaco brought up the potential of there being multiple POVs, which would be a first for the franchise. But since the original trilogy was from the districts’ perspective and the prequel was from the Capitol’s perspective, it is entirely possible that this new book might feature both.
Sunrise on the Reaping is currently available for preorder from most booksellers, including Amazon (although at the moment they only have the Kindle edition), Barnes & Noble, and Books A Million. It will be released on March 18th 2025, with the movie set to hit theaters on November 20th of the following year.
Special thanks to Hailey Watkins for bringing @grapiedeltaco’s video to my attention!
