New ‘Hunger Games’ prequel book ‘Sunrise on the Reaping’ set for 2025 release

MANILA, Philippines – Are you ready to return to the heart of Panem’s darkness? Suzanne Collins announced another prequel to her best-selling The Hunger Games series, Sunrise on the Reaping, set to be released on March 18, 2025.

According to the Associated Press, the latest addition explores the backstory of Haymitch Abernathy, who mentored the District 12 tributes, including the trilogy’s main protagonists, Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark. Sunrise on the Reaping – the fifth installment of the hit series – will take readers back 24 years before the original novel and 40 years after The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.

Inspired by an 18th-century Scottish philosopher and contemporary battles against misinformation, Collins revisits the devastated world of Panem. The book will explore an older and more influential Coriolanus Snow, revealing his tyrannical nature through the execution of Haymitch’s family following his victory in the 50th Hunger Games. 

Forbes reported that Sunrise on the Reaping is scheduled for print, digital, and audio release. A film adaptation is also set to hit theaters on November 20, 2026, with cast details yet to be revealed. 

The prequel lays even more groundwork for the brutal competition portrayed in the Hunger Games trilogy, which concluded in 2010. It explores events of oppression, rebellion, and survival within the dystopian society of Panem.

Sunrise on the Reaping follows Collins’ prequel, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, which explores the early years of Panem’s totalitarian regime centered around President Coriolanus Snow. The book debuted in 2020, followed by the film adaptation’s release in 2023. Actors Tom Blyth and Rachel Zegler took on the roles of President Snow and Lucy Gray Baird, respectively. – with reports from Kila Orozco/Rappler.com 

Kila Orozco is a Rappler intern.