Many of us have woken up to the news that Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson are confirmed to return for the new Hunger Games movie, Sunrise on the Reaping.
The reveal comes courtesy of industry insider Jeff Sneider, who broke the news in his latest newsletter. While Sneider claims this to be a rumor, Deadline has reportedly confirmed that said news is true.
We’ve confirmed that ‘Hunger Games’ canon stars Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson are returning for Lionsgate’s next prequel ‘Hunger Games: Sunrise On The Reaping.’While the prequel is set in the world of Panem 24 years before the events of ‘The Hunger Games,’ there’s a… pic.twitter.com/GIi9Cl9HMJDecember 11, 2025
Hutcherson first showed interest in returning to the prequel some months before. “I would love to be back on set with Francis, with Jen, with Liam, with Woody [Harrelson],” he told Variety. “It would not take any convincing at all. I’d be there in a heartbeat.”
While some Hunger Games fans are elated and others refuse to believe it until they see it, I've got a differing opinion.
If you've read Sunrise on the Reaping, you'll know Katniss and Peeta do indeed return for the epilogue... but why do we need to know about their casting almost a year before the film's release?
Our need for constant consumption is out of control, and Sunrise on the Reaping has already proved it
In an ideal world, we'd have waited until November 20, 2026 to watch Sunrise on the Reaping knowing as little as possible beforehand, and be spellbound by every surprise the production has in store for us. While I'm sure there will still be plenty to discover that we're not yet aware of, we now don't get the anticipation of wondering whether Lawrence and Hutcherson would return.
There's really no reason why this news should have been revealed now. We know actor cameos can be kept a secret until release – Kristen Chenoweth and Idina Menzel returning for the first Wicked movie is an amazing example of that.
Instead, I think this is a case of us as a public not being able to sit with the feeling of anticipation. We have to have all possible information at our fingertips at all times, and we no longer no how to handle things when that option is withdrawn. In a nutshell, it's over-consumption over artistry.
Whether Lionsgate actually wanted this information to come out know is unknown. There's other ways the movie could honor the book's epilogue without recording new scenes, such as using flashbacks.
This is one of the key reasons that I'm convinced Woody Harrelson won't return, seeing as his lines from Catching Fire were used in the Sunrise on the Reaping trailer.
It's much more likely that people have incessantly picked away at Lawrence and Hutcherson's return like a scab they just can't leave alone, determined to bring the truth to the surface. I'm not grateful at all – instead, I'm incredibly sad.
It's a damming indictment of us that we can't leave the magic to the movies... good things come to those who wait, as they say.
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