Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson are officially set to step back into the world of Panem in the upcoming prequel, The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping. The Hollywood Reporter confirmed their involvement in the forthcoming Francis Lawrence dystopian action film in an article published on December 10, 2025. Their return is a significant moment for the franchise, bringing back the figures who defined the original series. While the upcoming film is primarily a prequel focusing on the 50th Hunger Games (Haymitch Abernathy's victory), the duo's confirmed appearance is likely to take the form of a flash-forward or epilogue. Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson are returning as Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark in Francis Lawrence's The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping The upcoming addition in the dystopian action franchise is based on the novel Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins, the second prequel in her dystopian series. The film's plot is set twenty-four years before the events of the first Hunger Games film and revolves around the 50th annual Hunger Games, also known as the Second Quarter Quell.The cast of The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping features Ralph Fiennes as the tyrannical President Coriolanus Snow, Jesse Plemons as Plutarch Heavensbee, Kieran Culkin as host Caesar Flickerman, and Elle Fanning as the Capitol escort Effie Trinket, among others.Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson, who are now confirmed to reprise their roles in The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping, had last appeared in franchise's 2015 film The Hunger Games: Mockingjay — Part 2 (2015). Lawrence's Katniss Everdeen, also dubbed as "The Mockingjay," began her journey as a fierce protector of her sister, volunteering for the 74th Hunger Games in the first film, The Hunger Games (2012). Meanwhile, Hutcherson played Peeta Mellark, the baker's son from District 12 who confessed his love for Katniss, a move that attracted sponsors and earned them the title of "star-crossed lovers." Their bond deepened through the brutal Quarter Quell in The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013), and they were subsequently separated by the rebellion. However, their roles evolved in The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 (2014), where Katniss became the face of the revolution while Peeta was held captive, tortured, and mentally conditioned by the Capitol to fear and hate her.Their story concluded in The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 (2015), surrounding the final stages of the war and their eventual, hard-won peace together in a post-war Panem.Jennifer Lawrence recently starred as Grance in Lynne Ramsay's physocological drama film, Die My Love, for which she earned a Golden Globe nomination. Whereas, Josh Hutcherson appeared in Scott Cawthon's supernatural horror film, Five Nights at Freddy's 2.The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping is scheduled to be released on November 20, 2026. Stay tuned for more updates.