After more than a decade, Jennifer Lawrence will return to the Hunger Games series as Katniss Everdeen in the new movie Sunrise on the Reaping.
Appearing on the Call Her Daddy podcast, Lawrence was asked about her role in the upcoming movie. She was fired up to return, as she got to reunite with her Hunger Games co-star Josh Hutcherson and the crew, calling it an “unbelievable” experience.
“It was so crazy because it was the same crew; it was the same camera guys, it was the same AD, who [I've] worked with a million times too because I love him and Josh and Woody [Harrelson]. It was so emotional,” she raved. “Josh and I didn't walk to the bathroom without our arms around each other. It was so beautiful.”
She then joked that Woody Harrelson “obviously came through the window of my hotel room uninvited.” However, she wouldn't have it any other way.
What is Jennifer Lawrence's role in The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping?
Of course, Lawrence will reprise the role of Katniss in Sunrise on the Reaping. The novel, which was published on Mar. 18, 2025, is a sequel to The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes and a prequel to The Hunger Games.
Article Continues BelowKatniss won't likely be in the movie a lot, but it will still be a memorable moment when she and Peeta Mellark (Hutcherson) return. It also sounds like Harrelson was on set as well. He played Haymitch Abernathy in the other movies, but Joseph Zada will play a younger version of him in Sunrise on the Reaping.
The rest of the cast includes A-listers like Mckenna Grace, Jesse Plemons, Elle Fanning, Kieran Culkin, Ralph Fiennes, Glenn Close, Billy Porter, and Maya Hawke.
Sunrise on the Reaping will be released on Nov. 20, 2026. It comes out over 14 years after The Hunger Games in 2012. Lionsgate is hoping that the franchise gets back on track. The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes was a flop, grossing just $347 million worldwide in 2023.

