Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson are so back.
After a decade since The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 came out, multiple sources on Wednesday confirmed that Lawrence and Hutcherson will reprise their iconic roles as Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark, which has fans and movie watchers so excited.
The Hunger Games books, written by Suzanne Collins, is a dystopian series where the wealthy Capitol forces 12 impoverished districts to send two teenage “tributes” (one boy, one girl) to fight to the death in a televised annual event for survival, serving as punishment and control after a past rebellion. The story centers on Katniss Everdeen, a resourceful hunter from District 12, who volunteers for the games to save her younger sister, Prim (Willow Shields), and navigates the deadly challenges of becoming an accidental symbol of rebellion against the Capitol’s tyrannical rule. The second and third books, Catching Fire and Mockingjay, continues on this storyline, but focuses mostly on the two and previous tributes and rebels fighting against President Snow (Donald Sutherland) and the Capitol.
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In May 2020, Collins released the prequel for the trilogy titled The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, and a movie with the same name was released in November 2023, but none of the original cast was involved. Collins put out another prequel titled Sunrise on the Reaping this past March, which follows a young Haymitch Abernathy (Joseph Zada) from District 12 as he’s reaped into the 50th Hunger Games, a special Quarter Quell where double the usual tributes fight. Haymitch (played by Woody Harrelson in the 2012-2015 films) served as Katniss and Peeta’s mentor when they fought in the Games. The film for Sunrise in the Reaping will be released next November, and stars Joseph Zada, Mckenna Grace, Elle Fanning, Maya Hawke, Whitney Peak and Jesse Plemons.
Now what does Katniss and Peeta have to do in a story that took place 24 years before their time? In the epilogue of Sunrise on the Reaping, they are sitting down with Haymitch after the events of the rebellion have concluded, and listening to him finally recount the full and tragic story of his experience winning his own Hunger Games.
When the news was confirmed on Wednesday, it was no surprise that fans freaked out online.
“EVERLARK ALIVE IN THE YEAR OF 2026 WHO WOULDVE THOUGHT,” a fan shared on X referring to the character’s ship name and posted a fan edit of the two characters.
“stop I’m going to cry omg,” one commented. “DONT LIE TO ME RN,” another said.
“me when i’ll see jennifer and josh as katniss and peeta on screen in the big 2026,” a third said, along with a video of someone doing a backflip at a movie theater.
Another wrote, “JENNIFER LAWRENCE AND JOSH HUTCHERSON APPERANCE IN HUNGER GAMES: SUNRISE ON THE REAPING GODDDDDDDD,” along with the scene from Catching Fire of Katniss freaking out over the mockingjays and Peeta trying to comfort her.
One fan even joked, “this is like Rihanna returning to music.”
Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson are officially set to return as Katniss and Peeta in ‘THE HUNGER GAMES: SUNRISE ON THE REAPING’ pic.twitter.com/tlfSg1252i
— Film Updates (@FilmUpdates) December 11, 2025
The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping is set to release in movie theaters on Nov. 20, 2026. While waiting, fans can watch the Hunger Games movies on Amazon Prime Video, or purchase it through Apple TV, YouTube or Fandango.
Related: ‘Hunger Games’ Star Reflects on Meeting Ariana Grande 18 Years Ago
