Get ready to return to the arena because another The Hunger Games prequel movie is all but guaranteed. The franchise’s future has been in question since the release of the The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, which was set 64 years before the events of Katniss’ story. While there has undoubtedly been a demand for movies, there were no more Hunger Games books to adapt, and it was unclear whether there ever would be.

Of course, the world of The Hunger Games leaves a lot of room for exploration. Katniss was first reaped for the 74th Hunger Games, and it was following the 75th Games—the Quarter Quell—that she escaped the arena and began her war against the Capitol. The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes explored the 10th Hunger Games, which saw a young President Coriolanus Snow participate as one of the first batch of mentors. This leaves 72 unexplored Hunger Games, but author Suzanne Collins is checking another bloody event off this list.

Another Hunger Games Book Is On The Way (Which Means A Movie Probably Is Too)

The Next Hunger Games Book Is Likely To Picked Up By Lionsgate

Collins has announced that she has a Hunger Games book in the works (via Variety), which will be set 40 years after the events of The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. Titled Sunrise on the Reaping, Collins has explained that the prequel was inspired by Scottish philosopher David Hume’s ideas about “implicit submission” and ‘the easiness with which the many are governed by the few.” The author said nothing about whether this book, which will be released on March 18, 2025, will be adapted into a movie—though this is inevitable.

It can be no coincidence that Collins is releasing a new book so soon after the 2023 release of the Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes movie. While the film rights for Sunrise on the Reaping have yet to be announced, it can be assumed that this is part of a larger plan for the franchise. Hunger Games and Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes director Francis Lawrence has already teased that he would be eager to make more movies set in Panem, but only if Collins writes a book first. Now that these criteria have been met, it seems we need only to sit back and wait.

Sunrise On The Reaping Will Be Set During Haymitch’s 50th Hunger Games

A Haymitch Hunger Games Prequel Movie Has Been Highly Requested

Another reason a Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping book is inevitable is that it will feature a highly marketable character. The teased placement of the upcoming book within the timeline is 40 years after Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, which indicates that the story will surround the 50th Hunger Games—AKA, the Second Quarter Quell. This just happens to be when Haymitch Abernathy was crowned victor. As a fan-favorite character, a Sunrise on the Reaping movie would be a shoo-in. In fact, Lionsgate would be foolish not to jump on the opportunity.

Sunrise on the Reaping will be the perfect capper for the Hunger Games franchise since Haymitch is the last of District 12’s four victors to get a screen adaptation. The first winner from the coal-minding District was Lucy Gray Baird, whose story was explored in The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. The last was Katniss and Peeta, who obviously had their stories told in the central Hunger Games books and movies. Now, Haymitch, the second District 12 victor, is finally getting his chance in the sun(rise). Without a movie following his story, the Hunger Games film franchise would be incomplete.

A Sunrise On The Reaping Movie Has The Potential To Be More Successful Than Ballad Of Songbirds & Snakes

A Haymitch Prequel Is Likely To Be More Successful Than President Snow’s

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes was an excellent book, and the perspective of Coriolanus Snow was invaluable to the overarching themes of The Hunger Games. The movie was a fairly done adaptation, too. However, the prequel film didn’t perform as well as its franchise predecessors since it was a spinoff that movie audiences hadn’t really asked for. Ever since the conclusion of The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, fans have been begging for spinoffs that followed Haymitch’s Hunger Games, meaning the hype leading up to a potential Sunrise on the Reaping book will be massive.

Haymitch isn’t the only reason that the 50th Hunger Games has been a point of fascination. The Second Quarter Quell required four tributes from each District—two boys and two girls—which means that there were twice as many kids battling to the death. Moreover, they were placed in an astounding beauty arena full of rolling green hills, colorful flowers, and fluffy clouds. However, the meadows and forests were as poisonous as they were beautiful. It’s an event that is simply begging to be seen on the big screen, and it seems like Hunger Games fans won’t have to wait much longer for this to happen.