A New ‘Hunger Games’ Book Is Coming Out! What Author Suzanne Collins Says About the Prequel
The dystopian novel series is adding a story set 24 years before the first 'Hunger Games' book
May the odds be ever in your favor tributes, because on June 6, 2024, Scholastic Book Publishing announced that a brand new Hunger Games book written by best-selling author Suzanne Collins is being released. The prequel novel is expected to hit shelves in the spring of 2025, with a movie adaptation releasing in the fall of 2026 — much to President Snow’s dismay. But even so, we have grabbed our mockingjay pins and bows and arrows and ventured back to Panem to find out everything you need to know about the new book and movie
What is the new ‘Hunger Games’ book going to be about?
The new book, entitled Sunrise on the Reaping, is going to serve as a prequel set 24 years before the first Hunger Games book. It will follow the tributes of the 50th Hunger Games (or the second Quater Quell), which fans of the franchise will remember as the game Haymitch Abernathy completed in; however, the press release did not specify if Haymitch would be the main character.
“Sunrise on the Reaping is a remarkable book, bringing new complexity, perspective, and revelations to a piece of the Hunger Games story that readers have longed to know more about,” said Ellie Berger, President of Scholastic Trade. “Suzanne Collins has done it again, bringing us back to the world of Panem in order to ask us important questions about our own world.”
Suzanne expanded on that saying, “With Sunrise on the Reaping, I was inspired by David Hume’s idea of implicit submission and, in his words, ‘the easiness with which the many are governed by the few.’ The story also lent itself to a deeper dive into the use of propaganda and the power of those who control the narrative. The question ‘Real or not real?’ seems more pressing to me every day.”
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‘Sunrise on the Reaping’ movie announcement, release date and more
As if getting a new Hunger Games book wasn’t enough, Lionsgate also announced that they would be turning the book into a movie
When asked about the anticipated adaptation, Adam Fogelson, chair of the Lionsgate Motion Picture Group, said, “We know Hunger Games fans worldwide will be spellbound by where Suzanne has focused this next extraordinary story. The Second Quarter Quell is legendary and looms large over the history of the Games, even into the time of Katniss Everdeen a quarter-century later. Like fans around the globe, we are eagerly anticipating this exciting return to Panem.”
He also added, “Suzanne Collins is a master storyteller and our creative north star. We couldn’t be more fortunate than to be guided and trusted by a collaborator whose talent and imagination are so consistently brilliant.”
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The new Hunger Games book is set to release on March 18, 2025, with the movie adaptation coming out on November 20, 2026.
However, if you simply cannot wait that long to head back to Panem, all of the four original Hugner Games movies are available for streaming on Amazon Prime Video, and the hit movie A Ballad of Songbird and Snakes can be streamed on Amazon Prime Video as well.
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