The Hunger Games franchise is officially heading back to Panem with Sunrise on the Reaping, the highly anticipated prequel based on Suzanne Collins’ forthcoming novel, which will tell the story of Haymitch Abernathy, the iconic character from the original series. While fans are eagerly awaiting the book’s release on March 18, director Francis Lawrence is already deep into pre-production. Speaking with Collider’s Maggie Lovitt while promoting the upcoming Constantine 4K UHD release, Lawrence shared new details about the film’s timeline, his excitement for the project, and the challenges of casting a film based on a book that hasn’t been released yet.

Following the box office success of The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, which told the story of a young Coriolanus Snow, Lawrence is already preparing for his return to Panem and his passion for the series couldn’t have been more evident as he explained the timeline of putting the movie into motion. “Yeah, I’m shooting that this year. So we’ve actually just sort of started prep. The book comes out mid-March. We’ve sort of got a research phase of prep. After London, I’m going to go on a scout, and then we start prepping in April, and we shoot this year,” Lawrence revealed.

Returning to Panem is no small feat, but for Lawrence, it’s a chance to collaborate once again with franchise veterans, including producer Nina Jacobson and author Suzanne Collins. “I’m really, really excited for it. It’s always great to go back and to work with Nina [Jacobson] and Suzanne Collins.” he continued. “It’s such a great world and great stories and great, always super relevant thematics, which always ground it. But, yeah, very, very excited.” Lawrence has a long history with the franchise, having helmed Catching Fire, Mockingjay Part 1 and 2, and the most recent release in 2023, which starred Rachel Zegler and Tom Blyth.

Who Will Play Haymitch?

One of the biggest questions surrounding Sunrise on the Reaping has been casting, particularly who will bring the young Haymitch Abernathy to life, since we can’t possibly have a de-aged Woody Harrelson. However, according to Lawrence, the process is still in its early stages due to a unique challenge — the book hasn’t been released yet.

“I will say it’s, like, it’s tricky because, you know, the book’s not out, so only people know generally what it’s about. I think there was an excerpt that was put out, and Suzanne maybe has a quote out there about what the thematics are. So we’re, like, we’re researching a little, but yeah, like, we can’t put, you know, scenes out or anything like that, yet.”

Sunrise on the Reaping will release in theaters on November 20, 2026.