‘Sunrise on the Reaping’ Movie Producer Teases ‘Hunger Games’ Prequel

May the odds be ever in your favor – again! “The Hunger Games” franchise from author Suzanne Collins has entered a new era as its latest book, “Sunrise on the Reaping,” hit shelves this week.

The prequel novel follows a young version of Katniss and Peeta’s mentor Haymitch Abernathy, played by Woody Harrelson in the films, as he emerges as the victor in the 50th annual Hunger Games. A film adaptation from Lionsgate was announced at the same time as the book.

With five books, six films and even an upcoming stage adaptation set for London this October, there’s no sign of slowing down for this juggernaut dystopian franchise. The staying power of Panem was showcased at a midnight release party at the Barnes & Noble in Union Square in New York City on Monday, one of hundreds held across the country for the Scholastic launch.

Collins herself was not in attendance, as the author notably shies away from press and fandom opportunities in favor of letting her work speak for itself. But hundreds of fans at the sold out event were joined by Collins’ longtime publisher and editor David Levithan, as well Scholastic Trade Publishing president Ellie Berger and “Hunger Games” marketing chief Rachel Coun in multiple activities leading up to the books being passed out at midnight, including “Hunger Games” trivia, friendship bracelet making, photo ops and “What’s in Your Parachute?,” a game where readers had to choose what they’d like to be sent from a “sponsor” if they were competing in the Hunger Games.

While Collins would have surely been a welcome presence, Coun, who has been working with Collins and co. on the “Hunger Games” franchise since the first book was published in 2008, explained why the author prefers to step back from this kind of engagement.

“It’s about the book, that’s what it’s about,” Coun told Variety. “That energy of what’s going to happen and responding to that. If you write a brilliant book, people are going to respond to it and it’s going to be timeless. It’s why we have these fans here who were eight years old when the first book came out and now they’re adults and they are here now to celebrate ‘Sunrise.’ It’s a testament to her brilliant writing.”

Among the many things to celebrate as “Sunrise” dawns, Scholastic publishing boss Berger is just happy to have made it to the finish line without any major leaks — an admirable feat these days.

“It’s been really scary but I have to say, considering how many books we’ve had out in the world, up until this moment, there have been no big leaks. And that surprised me because it is much, much harder to contain what we used to be able to do in a warehouse and just sort of have guards and cameras and everything. And once those were safe, you knew you were OK. But now with social media and how things can be posted online so quickly, it’s just harder and the stakes are higher.”

Now that the book’s secrets are out, all eyes are on the imminent film adaptation, due in theaters Nov. 2026. Nina Jacobson, who’s produced all the “Hunger Games” films and is already hard at work on the “Sunrise on the Reaping” movie, says she’s ready to finally “get out of my little bubble and get to be in a big bubble with the fans.”

On the eve of the book’s release, Jacobson spoke to Variety about the franchise’s continued success, enduring legacy, and, of course, what fans can expect from the upcoming film.

It’s been 13 years since the first “Hunger Games” film was released, and the franchise is still going strong. Did you anticipate that you’d still be in the world of Panem over a decade later?

No! To imagine a thing catching people as deeply as these books, touching people as deeply as the books have, having the kind of passionate fan base that they’ve developed — if you imagined that beforehand, you’d probably be delusional. You can’t imagine it until it happens to you. You can hope that people will love the thing that you’re working on as much as you love it, but to imagine it having the life span and this sort of devotion is a dream that you wouldn’t dare hope for, because it seems so impossible.

You returned to “The Hunger Games” universe in the 2023 prequel “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.” What did you discover about this world through going back to the very beginning in that way?

What I loved that Suzanne did, and part of why I admire her so much as a writer, is that if you had asked fans of the books or movies, “What’s the next story you want?” I don’t think anybody would have said, “I want the villain origin story.” You want to see the people you like, not the person that we’ve worked so hard to make you hate over the last four movies. And now we’re going to make him our protagonist?

And yet, in switching to a Capitol point of view and getting underneath the humanity of Snow and the evolution of a character, I felt like I learned so much more both about the origins of the Games themselves and the evolution of a villain. This heartache underneath the cruelty was so unexpected.

It’s so rewarding to see why she told us the story in this order and the pieces that you’re able to stitch together now, because we’ve gone back and then forward again. The connective tissue. There’s so much canon that comes to light, and now you understand because of the order that she went in.

I’m so desperately excited for people to finally get to start reading this book that I had to keep as a tiny little secret, because it is so rewarding to see how all the pieces come together in this one, and the big ideas and themes that she wants to explore are always just excruciatingly timely.

Speaking of the new book, “Sunrise on the Reaping,” the development process has been unique: both the 2025 book and 2026 film adaptation were announced at the same time. What has it been like working on the film side in tandem with the book release?

This is a very different process for us. I’ve never actually worked on an adaptation like this, where you’re so far ahead of the book, and yet people are waiting for it. I knew that she was working on another book, but I really had no idea – it could be years! I certainly did not expect that so soon after “Ballad,” I would get a call saying, “I have another book. I want you to read it. I want to know whether you think it’s a movie or not,” to me and [director Francis Lawrence].

We had to do a whole secret thing where I went to her longtime agent’s house and read it. There was one copy of the book that lived at his house. I had to go have my turn. Francis went and had his turn. We were so thrilled. It wrecked me so much as a person who loves to read and who wants to fall headlong into a book that won’t let you go. I was on the edge of my seat, crying. I just was so moved by it and so energized by it, and then could not talk to anybody except for Francis, Suzanne and our studio partners. And many of them hadn’t even read it yet – we just had the one copy to keep it secure and safe! To finally get to share that and get to hear what other people think, I’m just so excited for the fans. I’m just a huge fan who gets to be lucky enough to make the movies.

What can you tell me about where you are in the film’s development process so far?

We’re much further along than we would ever have been otherwise, without having this jump, because we went to work right away. None of it has been announced yet, but we have a great draft that we’re still doing work on. We’ve established our locations. We’re very far along for a book that’s only going to come out tomorrow!

You don’t know what the fans are going to respond to, so you just put yourself very easily in their shoes as one of them. I cannot wait to get to hear from them and to see what speaks to them. We do have such a smart and sophisticated fan base that they were able to speculate. They speculated about a lot of things, and I can’t wait for them to match their speculations up with the book. It’s been super thrilling and really rewarding. You feel like you’re planning a big surprise party.

Haymitch is a fan favorite, due largely in part to Woody Harrelson’s memorable performance in the films. When you cast a young Haymitch in this new film, what qualities are you looking for?

It’s an interesting challenge. Because of this early manuscript not being published, we haven’t even been able to read actors for fear that sides could leak! We’ve been holding our breath for a long time, but I think that what we’re looking for in that role is, you don’t want somebody who’s impersonating Woody, but you want somebody who very credibly feels like they could be a young version of this character, before the trauma and grief and rage that the fallout of the Games create.

Nobody can be Woody Harrelson but Woody Harrelson. But you have to find that mischief that he has in him inherently and try to understand, if you turn back time from the man you meet at the beginning of “The Hunger Games,” who he was before all of that, and why he became that.

It’s a great role. One of the things that’s so unusual about this is that very rarely does a franchise give an actor a chance to really show their chops and the range that they have, but these roles do.

We’ve been blessed with very sophisticated actors in our roles. They draw in and attract real acting talent, because her characters are so deep, the ideas are so powerful. It’s a franchise that is still really rooted in incredible character trauma.

What is it about “The Hunger Games” that has kept fans invested for so many years?

I have so much admiration for Suzanne, because she really writes from theme and character, and ultimately the themes that she explores and the characters that she explores those themes through, I think we all see ourselves in. Even though we are in this alternate, dystopian world, the characters are deeply grounded and recognizable in their struggles.

From the moment that Katniss Everdeen says, “I volunteer as tribute,” there’s an ability to see yourself in these characters in a way that is both aspirational and painful. Fans love the depth of her understanding of history, philosophy and these underlying ideas that run beneath so much of what we are experiencing today, culturally and globally. I think she has this incredible instinct for intimate character trauma, bringing to the surface ideas that we’re all struggling with.

The books are smart. We’ve never treated them as a YA franchise. We’ve always treated them as general audience entertainment, with a young adult protagonist. We’ve never pandered. We’ve never dumbed it down. We’ve never tried to make this franchise easier than the books that we were given. There’s real meat on the bone. There’s something to talk about when you leave the theater. Oftentimes, you get your popcorn, or you get your substance. And I think Suzanne’s ability to give people both and to speak to her audience as the smart and discriminating readers and viewers that they are, has allowed us to have a staying power that is moving to me.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity. Jennifer Maas contributed to this story.