Lionsgate has released the first trailer for The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping, finally giving us a look at the 50th Hunger Games, also known as the Second Quarter Quell. This time, the story moves away from Katniss Everdeen and follows a much younger Haymitch Abernathy, played by Joseph Zada. Fans will already know where Haymitch ends up, of course, but seeing the teenager he once was—and the events that shaped him—could make for a very different kind of Hunger Games story.
Francis Lawrence, who has directed several films in the franchise, returns to direct the new movie. Joseph Zada takes over the role of Haymitch from Woody Harrelson, who played the character in the original films. He’s only 16 when he is pulled into the Games, and the trailer makes it clear that this version of Haymitch is still angry, reckless and very much his own person. He hasn’t yet become the exhausted mentor we remember.
A Bleak Reaping in District 12
The first few shots establish a pretty grim mood. District 12 looks dusty and drained of colour, while Haymitch stands out with his messy hair and a look that suggests he’s already fed up with the world around him. He walks toward the reaping stage as the people nearby watch in tired silence, and there’s something uncomfortable about the whole scene. Nobody needs to explain what is coming because the setting says enough.
Things become much more chaotic once the trailer enters the arena. The Second Quarter Quell features 48 tributes instead of the usual 24, and the film seems keen to show just how much that changes the Games. The arena looks enormous, packed with mechanical traps and dangerous moving parts, with barely any room for the tributes to figure out what’s happening before something else goes wrong.
The Second Quarter Quell’s Much Larger Arena
Once the trailer moves into the Games themselves, the scale of the Second Quarter Quell becomes much clearer. Instead of the usual 24 tributes, 48 young people are thrown into the arena, which naturally makes everything far more chaotic. The footage shows a huge landscape filled with mechanical traps and other dangerous obstacles, with the tributes constantly trying to figure out where they can hide and where they absolutely shouldn’t go.
The quick cuts don’t give away too much, but they do suggest that the arena itself will be just as much of a threat as the other tributes. There’s a lot happening in these shots, and Haymitch looks like he’ll have to rely on more than just brute strength if he wants to survive.
Haymitch and Maysilee’s Alliance
One of the more important parts of the trailer is the brief look at Haymitch teaming up with Maysilee Donner, another tribute from District 12, played by Mckenna Grace. The two are shown taking shelter behind rock formations while attempting to use the arena’s mechanical systems against the Capitol’s tracking technology.
Their alliance is especially interesting because Haymitch’s story isn’t just about surviving the Games. It’s also about the people he loses along the way, and the trailer seems to be hinting at how much this experience will change him. There’s not enough footage here to know how their partnership will play out, but it certainly doesn’t look like a casual team-up.
Familiar Faces in New Roles
The trailer also gives us a few quick glimpses of younger versions of characters that fans will recognise from the wider Hunger Games story.
- Jesse Plemons appears as a young Plutarch Heavensbee, holding a large, old-fashioned camera setup.
- Elle Fanning is seen in an extravagant pastel Capitol outfit as a younger Effie Trinket.
- Kieran Culkin appears on the broadcast stage as Caesar Flickerman, flashing the kind of dramatic smile that feels very appropriate for the character.
- Ralph Fiennes plays President Coriolanus Snow, who is shown looking down from a Capitol balcony with a cold expression.
These appearances are brief, but they help connect Sunrise on the Reaping to the larger world of the franchise. It’s also a reminder that even though Haymitch’s story takes place years before Katniss enters the Games, the Capitol’s machinery is already very much in place.
How Haymitch’s Story Fits Into the Franchise
Unlike The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, which focused on Coriolanus Snow’s gradual rise and his transformation into a dictator, Sunrise on the Reaping is centred on someone who has already won the Games but never really escaped them.
The trailer appears to be setting up the events that eventually break Haymitch down. By the time Katniss and Peeta meet him decades later, he’s a completely different person—bitter, distant and clearly carrying a lot of damage from his past. This film looks set to show exactly how he got there.
The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping is scheduled to arrive in theatres on November 20, 2026.