As a longtime Hunger Games fan, Sunrise on the Reaping has been my most anticipated of the upcoming book-to-screen adaptations since it was announced (and all the SOTR casting news that even the lead actor is learning about as we are is only elevating that feeling). But, I’ll admit it took me some time to finish the book. Now, I’ve finally read Suzanne Collins’ new dystopian novel cover to cover, and I’m going to need something related to the original trilogy to happen in order to make it through seeing the book’s tragic ending on the big screen.
So, I Just Finished Sunrise On The Reaping, And I’m Not OK
I absolutely loved this installment of the Hunger Games books, but wow, does it end with an arrow through the heart. A young Haymitch hasn’t even processed watching a number of his friends die in the arena (including the particularly heartbreaking death of young Ampert) when he becomes the Quarter Quell victor. And once he returns home, things only get worse. First, he watches his childhood home burn to the ground while his Ma and brother Sid are inside the house.
I’m morbidly excited to see how it’s translated for the movie, but my goodness, is the ending dark. I’m already bracing myself for a chilling Ralph Fiennes performance with the actor set to play a middle-aged President Snow.
So, considering all that, I’m going to need the movie to feature that epilogue scene too, which is where the direct Hunger Games connection comes in.
Woody Harrelson, Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson would need to come back to make a cameo at the end of the movie. And while there are some cameos that I don’t find necessary, I think seeing this scene in the movie would allow audiences to experience the levity the book’s epilogue provides. Audiences would get to feel Haymitch’s full-circle journey of how his intense experiences ultimately were not for nothing, while ultimately helping tie up Sunrise on the Reaping as a story.
I don’t expect Lionsgate to announce this publicly, but now I’m counting on it. Lawrence, Harrelson and Hutcherson seem to love each other so much that it would have to be a no-brainer, and how cool would it be to see them back together again as their iconic characters?! Either way, the movie doesn’t come out until November 20, 2026, and it’ll take that long for me to emotionally prepare.