‘The Hunger Games’ Prequel Adds the Perfect Writer

The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping is bringing back one of the key voices that launched the film franchise. With “The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping” having now hit bookshelves and quickly become a hit, selling 1.5 million copies in one week, fans are eagerly awaiting the book’s adaptation. The story is set 24 years before the events of The Hunger Games and follows Haymitch Abernathy, played by Woody Harrelson in the four original films, during his tenure competing in the life-or-death games.

As announced at CinemaCon, screenwriter Billy Ray is set to pen the script for The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping (via Discussing Film). Ray co-wrote the screenplay for 2012’s The Hunger Games alongside the film’s director, Gary Ross, and the book’s author, Suzanne Collins. Ray’s other screenwriting credits include Captain Phillips, Gemini Man, Richard Jewell, and Terminator: Dark Fate.

Director Francis Lawrence has helmed every Hunger Games film since 2013’s Catching Fire and will return to direct Sunrise on the Reaping. Casting is underway to find the actor that will play Haymitch Abernathy, with cameras expected to roll this summer. The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping is currently scheduled to open in theaters on Nov. 20, 2026, on the coveted Friday before Thanksgiving that every movie in the franchise has opened on since Catching Fire.

‘The Hunger Games’ Franchise is Going Strong

The Hunger Games film franchise has been rather lucky with the talented writers they have been able to pull in. Both Catching Fire and the most recent prequel film, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, were written by Michael Arndt, best known for his work on Little Miss Sunshine and Toy Story 3. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Pt. 1 and 2 were co-written by Peter Craig (The Batman) and Danny Strong (Dope Sick). Ray returning to pen the script for Sunrise on the Reaping might not seem like a big deal from the offset, but it is a big deal to see one of the original film’s writers working with the director that has guided the series since the second film to new heights.

Even though The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes was the lowest-grossing film in the franchise, it still received positive word of mouth and did rather well at the box office at a time of year when other films like The Marvels, Wish, and Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom crashed and burned. Lionsgate has a lot invested in The Hunger Games as a long-running franchise. With Sunrise on the Reaping doing so well in book stores, with the book far outpacing the sales of The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes and Mockingjay, that could suggest the audience appetite for the franchise is starting to take hold.

By the time The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping hits theaters, it will have been 14 years since the original Hunger Games opened and took the world by storm, and with Billy Ray returning, the series’ history could repeat itself once more.

Source: Discussing Films

The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping

Release Date

November 20, 2026

Director

Francis Lawrence

Producers

Brad Simpson