- - Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson to Make Surprise “Hunger Games” Return in “Sunrise on the Reaping”: Reports

Tommy McArdleDecember 11, 2025 at 7:35 AM

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Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson in 2013's The Hunger Games: Catching Fire -

Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson will reprise their Hunger Games roles in 2026's Sunrise on the Reaping, per multiple reports

The actors' characters Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark appear in an epilogue chapter in author Suzanne Collins' prequel novel of the same name

The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping is in theaters Nov. 20, 2026

Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson are heading back to Panem in the next Hunger Games movie.

Multiple outlets reported on Wednesday, Dec. 10 that Lawrence, 35, and Hutcherson, 33, are expected to reprise their Hunger Games roles as Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark, respectively, in the upcoming 2026 prequel Sunrise on the Reaping.

While specifics behind Lawrence and Hutcherson's roles in the movie are under wraps, those who have already read author Suzanne Collins' novel Sunrise on the Reaping know that Katniss and Peeta appear with Haymitch Abernathy (whom Woody Harrelson played in the original four Hunger Games movies) in an epilogue chapter.

The new movie, adapted from author Collins' 2025 novel of the same name, follows We Were Liars star Joseph Zada, 20, as he is forced into competing in the 50th Hunger Games, some 24 years before the events of the first movie that Lawrence and Hutcherson starred in.

Representatives for Lionsgate, which produces the Hunger Games movies, did not respond to a request for comment.

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Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson in 2012's The Hunger Games

Hutcherson addressed the possibility of making more Hunger Games movies with director Francis Lawrence during an interview with Variety in November. In that interview, the actor told the outlet that he only learned of the epilogue chapter when Sunrise on the Reaping was published earlier this year.

"I would love to be back on set with Francis, with Jen, with Liam, with Woody,” he said at the time. “It would not take any convincing at all. I’d be there in a heartbeat.”

When asked specifically if he would appear in Sunrise on the Reaping, Hutcherson added, “That would be a dream come true. Do dreams come true? Sometimes. Sometimes not. Sometimes, yeah.”

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The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping poster

Sunrise on the Reaping is the sixth movie in the Hunger Games franchise and its second prequel after 2023's The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.

The new movie boasts a large, star-studded cast that includes Whitney Peak, Mckenna Grace, Jesse Plemons, Kelvin Harrison Jr., Maya Hawke, Lili Taylor, Ben Wang, Edvin Ryding, Elle Fanning, Kieran Culkin, Glenn Close, Billy Porter, Iris Apatow and Ralph Fiennes, who will play the villain President Snow.

The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping opens in theaters Nov. 20, 2026.

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”