The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping Trailer Just Dropped — And Haymitch’s Story Is Darker Than You Ever Imagined

Before he was a drunk mentor hiding in District 12, Haymitch Abernathy was a fighter. The brand-new trailer for The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping just proved that — and it’s every bit as brutal and brilliant as fans hoped.

Lionsgate dropped the first full trailer on April 13, 2026, and the internet collectively lost its mind. Here’s everything you need to know.

The Hunger Games Fast Facts: Sunrise on the Reaping

What’s the Story?

Set 24 years before the original film, Sunrise on the Reaping follows a young Haymitch Abernathy who is selected to compete in the 50th Hunger Games — also known as the Second Quarter Quell, where each district must send twice the number of tributes, meaning 48 children fight to the death.

The trailer doesn’t hold back. Haymitch declares in the teaser: “I’m sick of living in fear. Just surviving. We’re not animals to be killed for their entertainment” — while Ralph Fiennes as President Snow ominously warns, “If you disobey me, we shall open the bloodbath with the longest, most drawn out death your people have ever seen.” The Hollywood Reporter Chilling.

This is the Second Quarter Quell — the bloodiest Games in Panem’s history — and Haymitch is right at the center of it.

The Hunger Games: Star-Studded Cast

Joseph Zada stars as young Haymitch, joined by Jesse Plemons as Plutarch Heavensbee, Ralph Fiennes as President Snow, Glenn Close as District 12 official Drusilla Sickle, Kieran Culkin as Caesar Flickerman, Elle Fanning as a young Effie Trinket, Mckenna Grace as Maysilee Donner, Maya Hawke as young Wiress, Whitney Peak as Haymitch’s love interest Lenore Dove Baird, and Kelvin Harrison Jr. as young Beetee. Variety

Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson are also set to return, appearing in an epilogue scene featuring an older Katniss and Peeta. Rotten Tomatoes

Why Fans Are Hyped

This isn’t just a prequel — it’s the missing puzzle piece of the entire franchise. The film bridges the gap between The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes and the events of Katniss Everdeen’s original story Rotten Tomatoes, finally explaining why Haymitch became the broken, haunted man we first met in 2012.

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