Sunrise on the Reaping Filming Update Reveals Arena Location

August 7, 2025

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A new filming update has arrived for The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping, revealing the arena the tributes will be fighting in. Based on the Suzanne Collins novel of the same name, the upcoming installment in the Hunger Games franchise follows a young Haymitch Abernathy (Joseph Zada) as he competes in the 50th iteration of the titular tournament.

The Sunrise on the Reaping cast includes Elle Fanning, Mckenna Grace, Jesse Plemons, Kieran Culkin, and Ralph Fiennes, among others, with the film expected to feature both new and familiar characters. A release date is scheduled for next November.

As anticipation builds for Sunrise on the Reaping‘s 2026 release, the official Hunger Games X account now shares a new video from the movie’s set in Somiedo Natural Park in Spain, confirming that filming is now underway. The video shows off the location’s stunning natural beauty, including mountains, wildflowers, grasslands, and rivers. Check it out below:

Zada makes a brief appearance in the video by his trailer, while another shot features an axe next to some flowers, teasing the violence to come.

What This Means For Sunrise On The Reaping

With filming on the new Hunger Games movie now underway, more promotional teases are sure to arrive over the coming weeks. It’s not clear how long the film will be in production for, but likely several months. The actors involved could also drop new details and images on their personal social media accounts.

Unfortunately, a full-length Sunrise on the Reaping trailer is likely quite a ways off. Generally, trailers for Hollywood blockbusters arrive around six months before the film’s official release. This means fans could get the first teaser trailer for the film in May 2026.

As for the contents of the video, it makes clear that audiences can expect a different visual palette than previous installments of the franchise. The Soriedo Natural Park is visually quite distinct from previous arenas, with the first film featuring more of a forest environment and the second more of a tropical locale.

For The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (2023), the arena was heavily fortified with lots of concrete. Sunrise on the Reaping is going in the opposite direction, featuring a more sweeping and open fighting arena, with flowers set to provide splashes of color amidst the grass and rock.

Our Take On The Sunrise On The Reaping Video

Jennifer Lawrence looking serious as Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games

By making each arena visually distinct, each of the Hunger Games movies keeps things feeling fresh. Even though Francis Lawrence is back in the director’s chair after directing most of the previous installments, it’s a promising sign that he’s committed to updating the franchise’s visual language once more.

The landscapes shown off in the video will also surely inform the action in interesting ways, as it already looks like there will be less natural cover for tributes. Many questions still remain about The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping, but the location alone is enough reason to be excited in these early stages.