The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping Promo Gives Haymitch the Spotlight

Lionsgate’s latest promo for The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping makes its agenda clear from the start: this prequel belongs to Haymitch Abernathy. Released July 4 as a “Meet Haymitch” spot, the new footage puts Joseph Zada front and center as the younger District 12 tribute heading into the 50th Hunger Games, also known as the Second Quarter Quell. (Via Deadline)

The promo matters because it shifts attention away from franchise nostalgia and toward the character who will carry the film emotionally, decades before Katniss ever entered the arena. Directed by Francis Lawrence and based on Suzanne Collins’ prequel novel, Sunrise on the Reaping is set 24 years before the original story

Joseph Zada leads the 50th Hunger Games as the Young Haymitch

Earlier trailers of Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping introduced the scale of the Second Quarter Quell and its 48-tribute setup, but this newer push zooms in on the boy who survives it and eventually becomes one of Panem’s most damaged victors. Zada is stepping into a role made famous by Woody Harrelson, and the promo seems designed to sell viewers on his version of Haymitch before the film starts unpacking the trauma, rebellion, and personal loss behind that transformation.

For longtime fans, that is the smartest angle Lionsgate could take, because Haymitch has always carried more history than the earlier films had time to fully explore. The footage also reinforces how stacked this prequel is around him. Alongside Zada, the film features Ralph Fiennes as President Snow, Jesse Plemons as Plutarch Heavensbee, Elle Fanning as Effie Trinket, Glenn Close as Drusilla Sickle, and Kieran Culkin as Caesar Flickerman.

Those names give the movie franchise weight, but Haymitch remains the clearest draw because the story begins on the morning of the reaping and follows his road into the arena during a Quarter Quell that doubles the number of tributes. In other words, the spectacle is back, but the emotional hook is far more personal this time.

Have you watched the promo of the Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping yet? Let us know your thoughts on young Haymitch.

The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping is set for a theatrical and IMAX release on Nov. 20, 2026.