Why new Hunger Games movie Sunrise on the Reaping is a "return to form" of Catching Fire

The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping switches focus to Haymitch, finally telling the story of his Hunger Games during the second Quarter Quell. For fans of the series, the new movie should also feel like a bit of a throwback to the first two movies.

Speaking at a Filmmaker Presentation for Sunrise on the Reaping, which Digital Spy attended, director Francis Lawrence – who's directed every Hunger Games movie since Catching Fire – recalled how when he first read the manuscript, it felt like a "return to form of the first two movies".

"The Mockingjay [movies] changed a little bit because it was the finale of the original series and, of course, Ballad was very different in seeing the origin story of the antagonist and it was a very different movie structurally," he explained.

"This really is a return to form to, let's say, something like Catching Fire in terms of structure, in terms of feeling, in terms of backing and empathising with a character who's going through something quite spectacular, but also quite horrible. I was just really thrilled about that."

Related: Every Hunger Games character who has been recast in Sunrise on the Reaping

The preview event revealed the opening of Sunrise on the Reaping up to the dramatic events at the Reaping, which is faithful to the book and includes what's sure to be a much-talked-about performance from Glenn Close as Drusilla Sickle.

That in itself felt like a throwback to Catching Fire, but it's the stunning, brutal opening to the 50th Hunger Games that we saw a brief sequence of that really underlines what Lawrence is saying about the movie.

But even though it's the sixth Hunger Games movie and a prequel centred on an established character, producer Nina Jacobson added that Sunrise on the Reaping could work just as well if it was your first Hunger Games experience.

"If you've read all of them, even in that opening sequence that we've shown, there's so much connective tissue that runs throughout from all of the movies. But at the same time, if you've never seen any of them and sat down to watch this movie first, this would be actually an incredible way to start the series and watch it from here," she noted.

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"You don't need to know the world in order to have access to it because thankfully these characters are so iconic that people know Haymitch as an adult. They know Woody Harrelson as Haymitch, even if they are not even big fans of the property, he's sort of inescapable.

"Our characters have fortunately stayed in the conversation over time and what we know about him is that he is a drunk and angry and seemingly very lost man. You see who he is as a kid and how much hope he has, and also how little he thinks of himself as a person who would ever take down the Capitol. He has a lot in common with Katniss in that way."

If you haven't read the book, you'll have to wait until November to see how it all pans out. For now, you'll just have to make do with the new trailer that was released today, which you can watch above.

The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping is released in cinemas on 20 November.

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Movies Editor, Digital Spy  Ian has more than 10 years of movies journalism experience as a writer and editor.  Starting out as an intern at trade bible Screen International, he was promoted to report and analyse UK box-office results, as well as carving his own niche with horror movies, attending genre festivals around the world.   After moving to Digital Spy, initially as a TV writer, he was nominated for New Digital Talent of the Year at the PPA Digital Awards. He became Movies Editor in 2019, in which role he has interviewed 100s of stars, including Chris Hemsworth, Florence Pugh, Keanu Reeves, Idris Elba and Olivia Colman, become a human encyclopedia for Marvel and appeared as an expert guest on BBC News and on-stage at MCM Comic-Con. Where he can, he continues to push his horror agenda – whether his editor likes it or not.