Jennifer Lawrence & Josh Hutcherson Returning for “The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping”

The trials and tribulations of Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark might not be quite over yet.

Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson are expected to return to their star-making roles in Lionsgate’s The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping prequel, directed by franchise stalwart Francis Lawrence, who has directed every installment of the franchise since 2012’s Catching Fire. The latest film in the franchise is based on Suzanne Collins’s most recent novel and follows the events of the 50th Hunger Games, which took place 24 years before Katniss and Peeta were deployed as tributes for District 12. The main thrust of Collins’ novel centers on Haymitch Abernathy (played by Woody Harrelson in the films), Katniss and Peeta’s mentor, who was a 16-year-old tribute in the games himself. Joseph Zada is set to play the younger Haymitch.

So how would Lawrence’s Katniss and Hutcherson’s Peeta make an appearance in a prequel set well before their time? Their cameo is, of course, being kept a secret, but in Collins’ book, Katniss and Peeta appear in the epilogue alongside an older Haymitch.

Lawrence directs from a script by Billy Ray. Joining Zada in the ensemble cast are Maya Hawke as Wiress, McKenna Grace as Maysilee Donner, Jesse Plemons as Plutarch Heavensbee (previously played by Philip Seymour Hoffman), Elle Fanning as Effie Trinket (originally played by Elizabeth Banks), Ralph Fiennes as President Snow (previously played by Donald Sutherland), Kiernan Culkin as Caesar Flickerman (previously played by Stanley Tucci), Glenn Close as Drusilla Sickle, Lili Taylor as Mags Flanagan, Ben Wang as Wyatt Callow, Kelvin Harrison Jr. as Beetee Latier (previously played by Jeffrey Wright), Billy Porter as Magno Stift, and Laura Marcus as Silka Sharp.

As for Lawrence, she’s fresh off another Golden Globe nomination for her sensational performance in Lynne Ramsay’s Die My Love, while Hutcherson starred in the recent Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 and HBO’s series I Love L.A.

The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping is set to hit theaters on November 20, 2026.

Featured image: Actors Josh Hutcherson (L) and Jennifer Lawrence (R) on the set of the film “The Hunger Games”, North Carolina, USA, 2012. {Photo by Murray Close/Getty Images}