It has been a decade and a half since Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) first volunteered as tribute, and The Hunger Games is more popular than ever. That isn’t ideal for the current state of affairs in the world, but it has yielded one of the most highly anticipated prequels from author Suzanne Collins. The writer of the dystopian series wrote a Haymitch Abernathy origin story in 2025, entitled Sunrise on the Reaping. Immediately fast-tracked for a live-action adaptation, the Hunger Games prequel is slated for release in November 2026.
Sunrise on the Reaping will be the untold story of the alcoholic version of Haymitch (Woody Harrelson) that fans are familiar with. Just like any of the near-perfect books in The Hunger Games trilogy, this story will delve into the systemic tragedy of living in Panem. Viewers may think they understand Haymitch’s trajectory, but they are not prepared for the tear-jerking reality of what he went through. When Sunrise on the Reaping arrives in theaters, The Hunger Games fans will get a literal front-row seat to Haymitch’s secret pain.
Haymitch Will Be the Mockingjay Prototype in ‘Sunrise On the Reaping’
When Katniss meets Haymitch in the original films, he seems like an open book. Clearly suffering from some form of PTSD and alcoholism from his experience in the games, the District 12 mentor doesn’t seem open for exploration. It is the little throwaway lines that Haymitch delivers that hint at a torrid past, however. Haymitch chides Katniss for her cavalier attitude towards Mags’ inevitable death in the Quarter Quell. His most chilling quote is also in the iconic Catching Fire when he tells Katniss that there are no winners in the Hunger Games. There are only survivors.
Collider Exclusive · Sci-Fi Survival Quiz Which Sci-Fi World Would You Survive? The Matrix · Mad Max · Blade Runner · Dune · Star Wars
Five universes. Five completely different ways the future went wrong — or sideways, or up in flames. Only one of them is the world your instincts were built for. Eight questions will figure out which dystopia, galaxy, or desert wasteland you’d actually make it out of alive.
💊The Matrix
🔥Mad Max
🌧️Blade Runner
🏜️Dune
🚀Star Wars
01
You sense something is deeply wrong with the world around you. What do you do? The first instinct is often the truest one.
02
In a world of scarcity, what resource do you guard most fiercely? What we protect reveals what we believe survival actually requires.
03
What kind of threat keeps you up at night? Fear is useful data — if you’re honest about what you’re actually afraid of.
04
How do you deal with authority you don’t trust? Every dystopia has a power structure. Your approach to it determines everything.
05
Which environment could you actually endure long-term? Survival isn’t just tactical — it’s physical, psychological, and very much about where you are.
06
Who do you want in your corner when things fall apart? The company you keep is the clearest signal of who you actually are.
07
Where do you draw the line — if you draw one at all? Every survivor eventually faces a moment that tests what they’re actually made of.
08
What would actually make survival worth it? Staying alive is one thing. Having a reason to is another.
Your Fate Has Been Calculated You’d Survive In…
Your answers point to the world your instincts were built for. This is the universe your temperament, your survival instincts, and your particular brand of stubbornness were made for.
The Resistance, Zion
The Matrix
You took the red pill a long time ago — probably before anyone offered it to you. You’re a systems thinker who can’t help but notice the seams in things.
You’re drawn to understanding how the system works before figuring out how to break it.
You’d find the Resistance, or it would find you — your instinct for spotting constructed realities is the machines’ worst nightmare.
You function best when you have access to information and the freedom to act on it.
The Matrix built an airtight prison. You’d be the one probing the walls for the door.
The Wasteland
Mad Max
The wasteland doesn’t reward the clever or the well-connected — it rewards those who are hard to kill and harder to break. That’s you.
You don’t need comfort, community, or a cause larger than the next horizon.
You need a vehicle, a clear threat, and enough fuel to outrun it — and you’re good at all three.
You are unsentimental enough to survive that world, and decent enough — just barely — to be something more than another raider.
In the wasteland, that distinction is everything.
Los Angeles, 2049
Blade Runner
You’d survive here because you know how to exist in moral grey areas without losing yourself completely.
You read people accurately, keep your circle small, and ask the questions others prefer not to answer.
In a city where humanity is a legal designation rather than a feeling, you hold onto something that keeps you functional.
You’re not a hero. But you’re not lost, either.
In Blade Runner’s world, that distinction is everything.
Arrakis
Dune
Arrakis is the most hostile environment in the known universe — and you are precisely the kind of person it rewards.
Patience, discipline, and political awareness are your core strengths — and on Arrakis, they’re survival tools.
You understand that the long game matters more than any single victory.
Others come to Dune and are consumed by it. You’d learn its logic and earn its respect.
In time, you wouldn’t just survive Arrakis — you’d begin to reshape it.
A Galaxy Far, Far Away
Star Wars
The galaxy far, far away is vast, loud, and in a constant state of violent political upheaval — and you wouldn’t have it any other way.
You find meaning in being part of something larger than yourself — a cause, a crew, a rebellion.
You’d gravitate toward the Rebellion, or the fringes, or whatever pocket of the galaxy still believes the Empire’s grip can be broken.
You fight — not because you have to, but because standing aside isn’t something you’re capable of.
In Star Wars, that willingness is what makes all the difference.
Fans are finally going to get what they asked for, and they may come to regret that. Sunrise on the Reaping shows that not only was Haymitch submitted to be a tribute, but he was reaped illegally. This is just the beginning of his bad luck as he spirals into despair. One of the biggest reveals of the book is that Katniss was not the first attempt at bringing about a Mockingjay. Haymitch, now played by Joseph Zada, was a born rebel who only gets reinvigorated during Katniss’ generation. He initially started his own games with a yearning to break the system and was subdued after he attempted to numb his trauma with years of alcohol. Haymitch is one of the most tragic characters of the series, and movie fans will see this come to fruition when the live-action adaptation hits theaters.
It is obvious that Haymitch won his games and reaped the consequences that the Capitol delivers. He uses his cleverness and District 12 ingenuity to win, but he isn’t the Victor that those may think. His experience is more grueling than Katniss’ first games. While she dips a toe in the water, he is thrown over a waterfall and, even more tragically, doesn’t see the benefits of what he started for another 25 years. There is solace that he will eventually get some sort of happy ending, but viewers will see how he had to scrap and scrape so that Katniss could stand on his shoulders when her time comes.
‘Sunrise on the Reaping’ Reinforces the Connection Between Haymitch and Katniss
When Katniss and Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) first meet Haymitch, he has given up entirely. He has no comfort, but the white liquor brewed in District 12 after everything he has suffered. The bond he forges with Katniss during this time is important. Though Peeta is the ideal person to aspire to being, Katniss is Haymitch’s daughter in everything but DNA. They both have the same penchant for survival and stubbornness that allows them to win.
Haymitch delivers tough love to Katniss, but only because he sees himself in her. She has the grit and suspicion that he was also born with, as well as the downsides that come with that. His soft spot for the Mockingjay was bred years before she was born and is part of the reason he trusts her so much when it comes to her dismantling of the Capitol. They eventually have a trauma bond that doesn’t just have to do with the arena, but with those they lost along the way.
The Sunrise on the Reaping Victor is a mirror image of Katniss, and that starts with his origin story. Fans of the series will get enjoyment out of a different side of this Victor, but will also have their hearts broken when they see the full scope of Haymitch’s life during the Second Quarter Quell.
