The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping has to face one major issue right away during pre-production. The movie will be the sixth installment in the film franchise, which is adapted from the series of dystopian young adult novels of the same name by Suzanne Collins. The original trilogy, which was published between 2008 and 2010, was adapted into a big-screen quadrilogy with the final novel, Mockingjay, being split into two features released in 2014 and 2015. Altogether, the popular franchise has grossed over $3 billion at the box office worldwide.

The upcoming The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping will be the second prequel in the franchise after 2023’s The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, based on the 2020 novel of the same name. In early June 2024, it was announced that Collins was publishing another prequel in 2025 and that it would be adapted into a movie set to premiere in 2026. Despite only recently being announced, the movie, which is being helmed by longtime franchise director Francis Lawrence, already needs to solve one major problem before it gets off the ground.

A Hunger Games: Sunrise On The Reaping Movie Was Inevitable After The Book Announcement

Every Hunger Games Book Has A Movie Adaptation So Far

Although the extremely brief hiatus in between the two announcements isn’t necessarily common, it was perhaps inevitable that a Sunrise on the Reaping movie would be made. Between the original four Hunger Games movies and The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, every one of Collins’ books in the franchise has received a big-screen adaptation. While the fact that the latest movie was also the lowest grossing by a significant margin cast the prospect into slightly more doubt, the franchise is still a viable property in theaters and each of the movies has made their money back.

It does seem entirely possible that Sunrise on the Reaping could receive a slightly smaller budget, more on the level of the original The Hunger Games, in order to mitigate any more diminishing returns. However, box office has been unusually unpredictable in the pandemic era. Because of this, the new movie has every opportunity to become a major hit despite the lukewarm reception to its immediate predecessor, especially thanks to the presence of a returning major character, though that factor introduces problems of its own.

The Sunrise On The Reaping Movie Faces 1 Challenge The Book Doesn’t Need To Consider

The Prequel Will Need To Recast A Major Returning Character

The biggest challenge that is currently facing the movie is the fact that The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping will have to recast the iconic character Haymitch Abernathy. Haymitch, a former victor of the Hunger Games who becomes a mentor to Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence), is a major fixture of the original trilogy. In the original four movies, which took place between the 74th and the (unofficial) 76th Hunger Games, Haymitch was originally portrayed by three-time Oscar nominee Woody Harrelson.

However, Sunrise on the Reaping‘s setting will not allow for the actor to reprise his role. The actor, who is now 62 years old, was already slightly older than his 40-year-old character in 2012’s The Hunger Games, as he was 49 at the time of the movie’s production and turned 50 while filming. The prequel novel will take place during the 50th Hunger Games, in which Haymitch was the victor, but the movie taking place 24 years earlier meaning that the character will be 16 years old, necessitating an actor other than Harrelson stepping into the role.

Why Recasting Haymitch In The Hunger Games Prequel Will Be So Difficult

The Role Was Originally Played By Woody Harrelson

The movie’s position on the Hunger Games timeline is where it differs from the previous prequel The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. The only major character who appeared in a younger form in that movie was President Coriolanus Snow, with Tom Blyth taking over the role from Donald Sutherland. While Snow was a memorable character in the original trilogy, as he was the primary representative of an oppressive regime and thus essentially the main antagonist, he nevertheless played more of a tertiary role in the ongoing storyline.

Haymitch, while still being a secondary character to the Hunger Games leads, was on the other hand a much more generally beloved character. The time jump between movies is also significantly smaller, going back 24 years rather than 64. While Ballad takes place in an almost entirely different Panem where a different-looking Snow seems to fit, it will be more of an adjustment for viewers of The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping to see a version of Haymitch who is not played by Harrelson.