All 5 Hunger Games Films Return Sept. 3-7 With Sunrise on the Reaping Sneak Peek

Q: How will Jennifer Lawrence's mystery role connect the new prequel to the original trilogy?

Jennifer Lawrence’s role appears most likely to connect the prequel to the original trilogy by reprising Katniss Everdeen in a framing device, flash-forward or narration rather than as a character active in the main 50th Hunger Games story. That is because *Sunrise on the Reaping* is set 24 years before the original *Hunger Games*, centering on young Haymitch Abernathy’s victory in the Second Quarter Quell. Katniss would not plausibly be part of those events in the main timeline. The most credible way to bridge the films is therefore through scenes set after the original trilogy, or through retrospective commentary that links Haymitch’s past to Katniss’s era. The reporting cited in the background also undercuts the idea of a true “mystery role.” Trade outlets have said Lawrence is expected to return as Katniss, while Josh Hutcherson is also linked to a return as Peeta Mellark. Lionsgate has not fully detailed how they will appear, but their involvement would give the prequel a direct emotional and narrative thread back to the original films. That approach would make sense creatively and commercially. Haymitch’s Games shaped the mentor Katniss later depends on, so using Katniss and possibly Peeta to introduce, reflect on or contextualize his story would tie the prequel to the trilogy without breaking continuity. In short, the connection is likely through Katniss looking back on Haymitch’s defining trauma, not through changing the prequel’s core timeline.

3 articles · Updated · Variety · Jul 9

Sept. 3-7 screenings of all five “Hunger Games” films will include an exclusive preview of “The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping,” which opens Nov. 20.
Lionsgate and Fathom Entertainment will roll out one title per day — from “The Hunger Games” on Sept. 3 through “The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes” on Sept. 7 — with tickets already on sale.
“Sunrise on the Reaping” is set 24 years before the original films and follows young Haymitch Abernathy during the Second Quarter Quell, with Joseph Zada leading the cast.
Francis Lawrence directs and produces the new installment, extending a franchise first adapted in 2012 and expanded with 2023 prequel “The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes.”