Billy Ray To Pen ‘The Hunger Games: Sunrise On The Reaping’ Script With Francis Lawrence Directing For November 20, 2026 Release [CinemaCon]

Another big announcement made by Lionsgate during their presentation at CinemaCon is that “Hunger Games” screenwriter Billy Ray (“Captain Phillips”) is making a grand return to the franchise for an adaptation of the new Suzanne Collins novel “The Hunger Games: Sunrise On The Reaping” which has a release date of November 20, 2026.

Ray won’t be the only returning creative on “Sunrise On The Reaping,” as director Francis Lawrence is also back after recently tackling “The Long Walk” (coming to theaters on September 12) and “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes” for the studio.

READ MORE: ‘BioShock’: Netflix Enlists Director Francis Lawrence & ‘Logan’ Screenwriter Michael Green To Adapt Sci-Fi Horror Video Game

This will be marking Lawrence’s fifth “Hunger Games” film as the filmmaker has spent a good amount of his directorial career churning out popular sequels.

The studio is moving quickly on this latest “Hunger Games” adaptation, given the Collins book was only just published last month and includes a young version of Haymitch Abernathy, an important character who was played by Woody Harrelson in the original string of films and ended up a heavy-drinking mentor to our protagonists after winning a previous Hunger Games.

Here is the new book’s official synopsis via Indigo:

The phenomenal fifth book in the “Hunger Games” series! When you’ve been set up to lose everything you love, what is there left to fight for? As the day dawns on the fiftieth annual Hunger Games, fear grips the districts of Panem. This year, in honor of the Quarter Quell, twice as many tributes will be taken from their homes. Back in District 12, Haymitch Abernathy is trying not to think too hard about his chances. All he cares about is making it through the day and being with the girl he loves. When Haymitch’s name is called, he can feel all his dreams break. He’s torn from his family and his love, shuttled to the Capitol with the three other District 12 tributes: a young friend who’s nearly a sister to him, a compulsive oddsmaker, and the most stuck-up girl in town. As the Games begin, Haymitch understands he’s been set up to fail. But there’s something in him that wants to fight . . . and have that fight reverberate far beyond the deadly arena.

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Lawrence is a busy bee and in demand as the director previously attached himself to a “BioShock” movie at Netflix and a gestating biopic about the Long Beach band, Sublime, with help from “Ozark” writer Chris Mundy.

Stay tuned for more information as the casting will be the next big step for the latest “Hunger Games” installment.