The 50th annual Hunger Games will take place with double the participants in honor of the Quarter Quell. Haymitch Abernathy will be one of four tributes from District 12 stepping into the arena, and the only one to step out. Learn how he wins it all, and loses it all, in Suzanne Collin's new book, Sunrise on the Reaping, which is expected to be published on March 18, 2025.
Sunrise on the Reaping is the second prequel to the original The Hunger Games trilogy by Collins. The first prequel, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, was released in 2020 and follows the story of protagonist Cornelius Snow and the 10th Hunger Games. The original trilogy, consisting of The Hunger Games (2008), Catching Fire (2009), and Mockingjay (2010), follows the story of Katniss Everdeen who won the 74th Hunger Games alongside Peeta Mellark. The Hunger Games take place in a post-apocalyptic nation known as Panem, which is made up of twelve (originally thirteen) districts and the Capitol. The purposes of the Hunger Games are to provide entertainment for the Capitol and to remind the districts of the Capitol's power and its lack of remorse or forgiveness for the failed rebellion of the current competitors' ancestors.
The original trilogy, as well as The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, have all been adapted into movies, with Mockingjay being divided into Parts 1 and 2.
- Movie Adaptations
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In a dystopian future, the totalitarian nation of Panem is divided into 12 districts and the Capitol. Each year two young representatives from each district are selected by lottery to participate in The Hunger Games. Part entertainment, part brutal retribution for a past rebellion, the televised games are broadcast throughout Panem. The 24 participants are forced to eliminate their competitors while the citizens of Panem are required to watch. When 16-year-old Katniss' young sister, Prim, is selected as District 12's female representative, Katniss volunteers to take her place. She and her male counterpart, Peeta, are pitted against bigger, stronger representatives, some of whom have trained for this their whole lives.
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Twelve months after winning the 74th Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen and her partner Peeta Mellark must go on what is known as the Victor's Tour, wherein they visit all the districts, but before leaving, Katniss is visited by President Snow who fears that Katniss defied him a year ago during the games when she chose to die with Peeta. With both Katniss and Peeta declared the winners, it is fueling a possible uprising. He tells Katniss that while on tour she better try to make sure that she puts out the flames or else everyone she cares about will be in danger.
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Following her rescue from the devastating Quarter Quell, Katniss awakes in the complex beneath the supposedly destroyed District 13. Her home, District 12, has been reduced to rubble, and Peeta Mellark is now the brainwashed captive of President Snow. At the same time, Katniss also learns about a secret rebellion spreading throughout all of Panem -- a rebellion that will place her at the center of a plot to turn the tables on Snow.
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Realizing the stakes are no longer just for survival, Katniss Everdeen teams up with her closest friends, including Peeta, Gale, and Finnick for the ultimate mission. Together, they leave District 13 to liberate the citizens of war-torn Panem and assassinate President Snow, who's obsessed with destroying Katniss. What lies ahead are mortal traps, dangerous enemies and moral choices that will ultimately determine the future of millions.
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The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes
64 years before Katniss Everdeen volunteered as tribute, and decades before Coriolanus Snow became the tyrannical President of Panem. The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes follows a young Coriolanus who is the last hope for his failing lineage, the once-proud Snow family that has fallen from grace in a post-war Capitol. With his livelihood threatened, Snow is reluctantly assigned to mentor Lucy Gray Baird, a tribute from the impoverished District 12. But after Lucy Gray's charm captivates the audience of Panem, Snow sees an opportunity to shift their fates. With everything he has worked for hanging in the balance, Snow unites with Lucy Gray to turn the odds in their favor. Battling his instincts for both good and evil, Snow sets out on a race against time to survive and reveal if he will ultimately become a songbird or a snake.