In an exclusive report from Variety, Lionsgate has announced that production is officially underway for The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping, with Iris Apatow and Edvin Ryding rounding out the ensemble as Proserpina and Vitus, two Capitol University students tasked with preparing the District 12 Tributes for the deadly games. The pair join an already stacked cast, including Glenn Close, Kieran Culkin, Elle Fanning, Ralph Fiennes, Maya Hawke, Jesse Plemons, and Billy Porter, among others.
Directed by franchise veteran Francis Lawrence and adapted by screenwriter Billy Ray, Sunrise on the Reaping revisits Panem 24 years before the original Hunger Games, centering on the ominous 50th Hunger Games—also known as the Second Quarter Quell. The film, set for a November 20, 2026 release, continues Lionsgate’s billion-dollar franchise, which has already grossed over $3.3 billion worldwide.
Apatow, known for her roles in Unstable and the upcoming Ballerina Overdrive, and Ryding, breakout star of Netflix’s Young Royals, bring fresh energy to the prequel’s Capitol-centric storyline. Their characters, part of the privileged world that orchestrates the Games, add another layer of moral complexity to Suzanne Collins’ dystopian saga. The novel, released in March, sold 1.5 million copies in its first week, dominating bestseller lists and reigniting global Hunger Games mania—a momentum bolstered by an upcoming London stage adaptation from Olivier winner Conor McPherson.
With international distribution secured across key markets and a mix of franchise veterans (Fiennes returns as Snow) and rising stars (including Gossip Girl’s Whitney Peak and M3GAN’s Mckenna Grace), Sunrise on the Reaping aims to balance the grim spectacle of the Games with the political intrigue that made the original series a phenomenon. As cameras roll, one thing is clear: the odds—and the cast—are ever in its favor.
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