The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping drew a wave of enthusiastic first reactions after its London premiere on October 28, and box office forecasters expect an opening of roughly $55 million to $65 million when Lionsgate releases it in theaters on November 20, 2026. Francis Lawrence directs the prequel, which is set 24 years before Katniss Everdeen’s story.
What the film is
According to TheWrap and the official logline it quotes, the story begins on the morning of the reaping for the 50th Hunger Games, the Quarter Quell, where a young Haymitch Abernathy is chosen. Joseph Zada plays the young Haymitch and Woody Harrelson plays the older version. The Numbers lists a wider cast: Whitney Peak as Lenore Dove Baird, Rachel Zegler as Lucy Gray Baird, Mckenna Grace as Maysilee Donner, Jesse Plemons as Plutarch Heavensbee, Kelvin Harrison Jr. as Beetee Latier, Maya Hawke as Wiress, Ralph Fiennes as President Snow and Elle Fanning as Effie Trinket. IBTimes UK confirms most of that ensemble and adds Kieran Culkin and Glenn Close. The Numbers also lists a PG-13 rating and a reported $185 million production budget; both come from that page alone.
The first reactions
The reactions are social-media posts from critics and fans, not full reviews. TheWrap quotes Nikita Francois of Nerds of Color calling it “easily the best film in the Hunger Games franchise.†Griffin Schiller called it the “Rogue One/Andor of the franchise,†and Collider’s Perri Nemiroff praised the craftsmanship and the cast. IBTimes UK reports that Nemiroff singled out Zada’s mix of warmth and charm with the character’s anger and heartbreak, and TheWrap says several critics named his performance a standout.
Related Reading
Treat the praise with some care. Jordan Ruimy of World of Reel, who reported the glowing response on October 29, cautioned readers to read early reactions skeptically.
What box office trackers say
Box Office Pro’s long-range forecast puts the domestic opening weekend at $55 million to $65 million, according to Koimoi, which cites that forecast (Box Office Pro’s own page could not be opened for this article). For context, Koimoi reports that The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes opened to $44.6 million in 2023, the lowest in the franchise, while Catching Fire holds the record at $158.1 million. A result in the forecast range would be the second-lowest opening of the series.
Not every estimate is that cautious. World of Reel’s Ruimy said the film was tracking at $120 million for its opening weekend, and an earlier post of his cited a possible $100 million domestic opening based on presales. That is one blogger’s reading, not a published industry forecast, and it sits far above the $55 million to $65 million range.
What happens next
The film opens in wide and IMAX release in the US on November 20, with international openings beginning November 18 and 19, per The Numbers. Full reviews and opening-weekend numbers will show whether the first reactions translate into ticket sales.
What is not confirmed
None of the sources checked for this article gives a final runtime that two sources agree on, so none is stated here. The reports also disagree on how big the opening could be, which is why both the forecast and the more bullish estimate are attributed rather than presented as fact.
