Jennifer Lawrence's Hunger Games Return Has a Familiar Twist: Josh Hutcherson and Woody Harrelson Are Back Too
Jennifer Lawrence confirms her Hunger Games return in Sunrise on the Reaping, reuniting with Josh Hutcherson and Woody Harrelson.
One of the biggest open questions around The Hunger Games prequel is no longer a question. Jennifer Lawrence has confirmed that she will return as Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping, making official a casting report that had circulated since December 2025.
Lawrence revealed the news on the Call Her Daddy podcast and said coming back to the series felt "unbelievable." She also said the experience was emotional because much of the crew was the same, including camera operators and an assistant director she has worked with repeatedly. Her return also brings her back together with Josh Hutcherson and Woody Harrelson, who are reprising Peeta Mellark and Haymitch Abernathy. According to Lawrence, she and Hutcherson were inseparable on set, while Harrelson made his entrance in a way she suggested was very much in character for him, through her hotel window rather than the door.
For fans of the original films, the confirmation matters because it marks the first time in 11 years that Lawrence, Hutcherson and Harrelson have played those roles together again. They were last seen as Katniss, Peeta and Haymitch in 2015's The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2, the film that closed out the original four movie run.
Sunrise on the Reaping is set 24 years before the events of The Hunger Games, so the returning trio will likely appear in a flash-forward rather than the main timeline. The film is expected to center on the 50th Hunger Games, the Second Quarter Quell, when every district had to send double the usual number of tributes. Those were the Games in which Haymitch competed and won. Joseph Zada is playing the younger Haymitch. The cast also includes Mckenna Grace as Maysilee Donner, Whitney Peak as Lenore Dove Baird and Jesse Plemons as Plutarch Heavensbee.
The movie is the sixth Hunger Games release from Lionsgate. The franchise's first five films, from 2012's The Hunger Games through 2023's The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, have earned more than $3.325 billion worldwide. Francis Lawrence directed Sunrise on the Reaping and has now helmed every entry except the first film, which was directed by Gary Ross. Billy Ray wrote the screenplay, adapting Suzanne Collins' 2025 novel. The film is set to reach theaters on Nov. 20.
