Hunger Games Confirms When Fans Can Get Best Look Yet at Sunrise on the Reaping, But It Will Cost You
There are a lot of movies to look forward in the back half of 2026. Avengers: Doomsday is headed to theaters in December, as is Dune: Part Three. But before we get to that particular box office showdown, one of the most beloved franchises of the past 15 years is delivering to fans another of the most-anticipated films of the year. Sunrise on the Reaping is headed to theaters in November and fans are already eager to see Haymitch’s story finally take the spotlight. Fans are also eager for more looks at the film and the good news is that they’re in luck starting in September, but it comes with a catch.
On Monday, Lionsgate announced that tickets for the theatrical re-release for all five The Hunger Games movies were officially on sale. The films—The Hunger Games, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2, and The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes—will be showing in theaters for one night only each starting on September 7th and running through September 7th. But this isn’t just a simple re-release ahead of a new franchise installment. Each film will include new sneak peaks for The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping. That means to see each sneak peek, fans will need to purchase tickets for each film’s re-release.
Sunrise on the Reaping is Finally Giving Fans What They Want (And It May Make the Re-Release Worthwhile)
While it may seem pretty intense to need to go see each of the first five films in theaters just to get new looks at Sunrise on the Reaping (and a pretty significant time investment as well), for franchise fans this might actually be worth it. Sunrise on the Reaping is poised to give fans something that they’ve wanted for a long time and that is to go into Haymitch’s story. In the original franchise and books, Haymitch’s story was one that didn’t get deeply explored except for it to be revealed that he was the victor of the 50th Hunger Games, aka the second-ever Quarter Quell and the aftermath of his experience and victory left him forever scarred. It’s a story that fans wanted to know more about and in 2025, author Suzanne Collins gave them exactly that with the publication of the Sunrise on the Reaping book.
That story heading to the screen is a big deal because we’ll get a whole new look at that story and more insight into Haymitch, but it will also bring back Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson as Katniss and Peeta from the original film series. This means that not only will this movie give fans the long-awaited Haymitch story, but we’ll finally get a major Hunger Games reunion, we just don’t know much about how that will play out. It is possible that the sneak peeks of Sunrise on the Reaping that are being included with the theatrical re-release event for the first five films in the franchise will help make things a bit more clear as well as help make important connections about how the film will tie to the first installments of the series. That might just make the time and money of checking out the special re-release worth it for fans.
The first five films in The Hunger Games franchise return to theaters from Lionsgate and Fathom Entertainment beginning September 3rd. The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping opens in theaters on November 30th.
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