How Jennifer Lawrence's Katniss And Josh Hutcherson's Peeta Could Return For The Hunger Games Prequel

Spoilers for "Sunrise on the Reaping" by Suzanne Collins to follow.

News broke late Wednesday evening that Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson, who originated the roles of Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark in the "Hunger Games" movies, are returning for the film prequel "Sunrise on the Reaping," which is set to release in November 2026 (per The Hollywood Reporter). So ... how is that possible, since it's a prequel?

Lawrence and Hutcherson will join Joseph Zada as Haymitch Abernathy, their future Hunger Games mentor portrayed by Woody Harrelson in the original movies, as well as other luminaries like Jesse Plemons, Ralph Fiennes, Kieran Culkin, and Elle Fanning in a film that centers around Haymitch's victory in the 50th annual Hunger Games, also known as the "Second Quarter Quell."

This marks the second prequel original author Suzanne Collins has released after 2020's "The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes," which got its own cinematic adaptation in 2023, focusing on the backstory of eventual Panem president Coriolanus Snow (Tom Blyth in that film, Fiennes in "Sunrise on the Reaping," and Donald Sutherland in the original movies). That story, though, is set before Katniss, Peeta, and Haymitch are even born, so there wasn't any opportunity to include them; in the epilogue Collins provides in "Sunrise on the Reaping," though, we catch up with a broken, traumatized Haymitch decades after he experienced true horrors in the games.

Here's the gist: After winning his Games, Haymitch is punished by the Capitol for causing significant trouble in the arena, and his entire family is killed — as is his girlfriend Lenore Dove (who will be played by Whitney Peak in the movie). Decades later, in said epilogue, he spends time with Katniss and Peeta, his only surviving fellow winners from District 12, and explains his fondness for Katniss.

In that epilogue, Haymitch remembers his lost love Lenore Dove as he ages, trying to find peace in the aftermath of the Capitol's downfall (which we see in both the book "Mockingjay" and the two-part film adaptation "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay"). Beyond that, though, he talks about his love for Katniss, the daughter of his late friend Burdock Everdeen; in the lead-up to the epilogue, it's revealed that, as Haymitch's house in District 12 burned with his family inside, Burdock was the one to drag him away from the flames, saving Haymitch's life.

"I first saw the girl at the Hob when she was just a baby. Burdock was so proud of her, he toted her around everywhere," Haymitch recalls of a younger Katniss, saying that she reminded him of Louella McCoy, his "sweetheart of old" from the Games (who's the victim of one of the grossest, darkest things to happen in the entire franchise during "Sunrise on the Reaping"). This long-standing affection for both Burdock and Katniss ultimately leads Haymitch to work on a "memorial book" with Katniss and Peeta, which feels like something we'll see on screen:

"I didn't want to have anything to do with their memorial book after the war. What use? What point? To relive all the loss. But when Burdock's page came up, I had to mention him showing me the grave. And I felt compelled to tell them about Maysilee Donner, former owner of the mockingjay pin. And how Sid loved the stars. Before I knew it, they all came tumbling out: family, tributes, friends, comrades in arms, everybody, even my love. I finally told our story."

In the first theatrical trailer for "Sunrise on the Reaping," we finally got a look at Joseph Zada's take on Haymitch Abernathy as he heads into the arena for the Second Quarter Quell. So, what is a Quarter Quell, and why are Haymitch's games particularly brutal (even by the inherently brutal standards of these Games)?

As a reminder, the Capitol created the Hunger Games after a failed uprising staged by Panem's 12 districts; every year, to remind the downtrodden citizens of the Capitol's power, 24 children between the ages of 12 and 18 are chosen to fight to the death in televised games that take place in massive arenas. Because Haymitch competed in the 50th Games, though, there's a horrifying twist: to make the 50th games more "special," the number of tributes is doubled. (For context, Katniss Everdeen's first Games are the 74th iteration.) Haymitch, who isn't even properly chosen for the Games but ends up competing after the initial tribute is killed trying to run away, ends up one of the 48 tributes and is thrown into an arena that seems beautiful and tranquil at first glance but hides dangers like feral animals and poisoned flowers.

When we meet Woody Harrelson's Haymitch in the original films, he's a deeply closed-off and obviously traumatized guy with a drinking problem; "Sunrise on the Reaping" will explain precisely why his entire life is derailed in the aftermath of his Games. It sure sounds like Harrelson lends his voice to the trailer, so we'll likely be seeing him alongside Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson for this epilogue.

"The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping" is set to release on November 20, 2026.