Lionsgate released a "Meet Haymitch" character featurette for The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping on July 4, timed to Haymitch Abernathy's in-universe birthday and Reaping Day.
The promo centers on Joseph Zada, the Australian actor taking over the role originated by Woody Harrelson, as the 16-year-old District 12 tribute who will one day become Katniss Everdeen's mentor. The featurette features director Francis Lawrence, producer Nina Jacobson, and co-stars Elle Fanning, McKenna Grace, Ben Wang, Jesse Plemons, and Whitney Peak.
A line of dialogue in the promo captures the film's register. Haymitch's girlfriend Lenore Dove Baird, played by Whitney Peak, asks: "Can you imagine the sun rising on a world without a Reaping?" Haymitch answers: "Not on my birthday. Never had one that came without a Reaping."
Sunrise on the Reaping is set 24 years before the original trilogy, following young Haymitch during the 50th Hunger Games, known as the Second Quarter Quell. The ensemble also includes Jesse Plemons as young Plutarch Heavensbee, Kieran Culkin as Caesar Flickerman, Ralph Fiennes as President Coriolanus Snow, Glenn Close, Maya Hawke, and Kelvin Harrison Jr. Francis Lawrence directs from a screenplay by Billy Ray and Michael Lesslie. Composer James Newton Howard returns for his sixth film in the franchise.
The film shot in Spain and Berlin in late 2025 and opens in theaters and IMAX on November 20, 2026, from Lionsgate.