Hunger Games: What does the new film has in store for us?

By Violaine Schütz, 

and The Editorial Team.

The trailer of the film Hunger Games: The Ballad of the Songbirds & Snakes (2023).

The grand return of the Hunger Games saga

From 2012 to 2015, the four films from the Hunger Games saga were a huge success, grossing nearly three billion dollars at the box office. Led by actress Jennifer Lawrence, alongside Josh Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth, the story was set in a dystopian America. Each year, the twelve districts of the renamed nation of Panem were forced to send one boy and one girl — known as “tributes” — to participate in the Hunger Games, a nationally broadcast event in which the tributes had to fight to the death.

After Hunger Games (2012), Catching Fire (2013), Mockingjay – Part 1 (2014), and Mockingjay – Part 2 (2015), another epic feature was released in November 2023, The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes.

A chapter titled The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes

Like the first four films based on the trilogy written by American novelist Suzanne Collins, this instalment is adapted from one of her novels, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, published in May 2020. Far removed from Katniss Everdeen (played by Jennifer Lawrence), the book is set sixty-four years before the events of the first volume and traces back the young years of Coriolanus Snow. The story takes place decades before he would become the tyrannical president of Panem.

He used to serve as a mentor for District 12, in the years following the era known as the “Dark Days,” the first failed rebellion of Panem. The synopsis of this prequel? “Young Coriolanus is the last hope of his lineage — the once-proud Snow family has fallen into disgrace in a postwar Capitol. As the 10th Hunger Games are about to begin, he is reluctantly assigned to mentor Lucy Gray Baird, a girl tribute from District 12, the poorest and most reviled district in Panem. Captivating the audience with her charm, Lucy Gray offers Snow a chance to turn the odds in their favour.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPjxijuBuSo

Elle Fanning and Maya Hawke join the cast

Directed by Francis Lawrence (I Am Legend, Red Sparrow), the film told a love story between Coriolanus and Lucy, and featured Hunter Schafer, Rachel Zegler (West Side Story), the brilliant Viola Davis, and Tom Blyth (The Gilded Age).

Following the film’s theatrical success, the saga is set to return to the big screen. A feature-length installment titled Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping is scheduled for release on November 25th, 2026. The film boasts an exceptional cast, including Ralph Fiennes, Jesse Plemons, Elle Fanning, Maya Hawke, and Glenn Close. The two lead characters will be portrayed by Joseph Zada (We Were Liars) and Whitney Peak (Hocus Pocus 2).

A new opus titled Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping

The story will take place forty years after the events of The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, and twenty-four years before what happened in the first film. It will explore the backstory of Haymitch Abernathy (played by Woody Harrelson in the original saga), Katniss’s future mentor. The premise? “As dawn breaks on the 50th annual Hunger Games, fear grips the districts of Panem. This year, in honor of the Quarter Quell, twice as many tributes will be drawn. In District 12, Haymitch Abernathy tries not to dwell on his odds. All he cares about is being with the girl he loves. But when his name is called, all his dreams shatter.”

He is then “ripped away from his family and his love, sent to the Capitol with three other District 12 tributes – a young friend who’s like a sister to him, a compulsive gambler, and the most conceited girl in town. As the Games begin, Haymitch realizes he’s been set up to fail. But he’s ready to fight… and to make that fight echo far beyond the arena.”

Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping, directed by Francis Lawrence, coming out in theaters on November 26th, 2026.