Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson to reprise roles in ‘The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping’
The odds are in favor of The Hunger Games fans as Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson are officially returning to the franchise as Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark in the upcoming prequel, The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping.
Lawrence confirmed the news during her appearance on the Oct. 28 episode of Alex Cooper’s Call Her Daddy podcast, where she talked about reuniting with her former co-stars after more than a decade.
“It was unbelievable,” the actress said. “It was so crazy because it was the same crew. It was the same camera guys, the same AD [assistant director] who I've worked with a million times too 'cause I love him, and Josh [Hutcherson] and Woody [Harrelson], and it was so emotional.”
The reunion was especially meaningful for Lawrence and Hutcherson, who played Katniss and Peeta in the original film series.
“Josh and I didn't walk to the bathroom without our arms around each other,” she said. “It was so beautiful.”
Lawrence also revealed that Woody Harrelson, who portrayed Katniss and Peeta's mentor Haymitch Abernathy in the original films, will return in the new movie.
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“And Woody obviously came through the window of my hotel room uninvited 'cause it wouldn't be the same if he listened to boundaries or used a door,” she joked.
The actors last appeared together in the franchise's fourth installment, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2, which premiered in 2015.
Based on Suzanne Collins' novel of the same name, The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping takes place 24 years before the events of the original Hunger Games story.
The prequel follows a young Haymitch Abernathy, played by Joseph Zada, as he competes in the 50th Hunger Games, also known as the Second Quarter Quell. The deadly competition requires twice the usual number of tributes to fight in the arena.
While Zada takes on the younger version of Haymitch for most of the film, Harrelson's return brings the original character back into the story alongside Katniss and Peeta.
The new movie is the second prequel in the film franchise, following 2023's The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, which explored the early years of President Coriolanus Snow.
The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping is scheduled to hit theaters on Nov. 20.
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