We're Officially 6 Weeks Away From A $3.3 Billion Sci-Fi Movie Franchise's Return

Published Oct 6, 2026, 12:15 PM EDT

Simon Gallagher has worked in movie and TV journalism for more than 17 years. He has written more than 6000 articles and reviews, and edited thousands more. He is an expert in the entertainment industry, particularly in the golden age of screen superheroes. Simon is also a Rotten Tomatoes approved critic.
 

For all the Backrooms and Obsessions of the world, Hollywood in 2026 is still ruled by safety. Established IPs have taken a firmer hold in the algorithm era than ever before, and every new release of any scale feels like a calculation based on attention currency and mitigating risk. When Hollywood executives’ eyes light up at the mere mention of AI and efficiency, it’s because they see it as a path to financial viability.

Massive sci-fis and superhero and animation franchises with pre-packaged audiences are inevitably top of the food chain, as studios become arguably more risk-averse than ever. Yes, there are impressive over-performers, and we should all be very excited by their originality, but it is a solid fact that as a collective audience, we also love franchises. So we get what we demand.

So far this year, we’ve seen the successful returns of Toy Story, The Devil Wears Prada, Spider-Man, and The Minions, with each earning more than $500m at the box office (and some considerably more). We still have the Avengers and Dune to return in 2026 (among other big franchise brands), and next year, both Star Wars and Spaceballs are back, and JJ Abrams finally makes his own return to sci-fi. So it’s a big time to be a sci-fi fan.

And that’s without mentioning the dystopian sci-fi franchise that has taken more than $3 billion in total, and last graced the big screen 3 years ago. In just six weeks, The Hunger Games returns to theaters with new prequel The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping, which promises to tell a key part of the franchise’s history and could be a huge step towards cementing its future.

The Hunger Games Officially Returns On November 20

Releasing in theaters on November 20, Sunrise on the Reaping tells the tragic story of the 50th Hunger Games - the infamous Second Quarter Quell - which was won by Haymitch Abernathy (Woody Harrelson in the original Hunger Games movies). It’s an event that is a major part of wider Hunger Games lore, of course, and it offers the opportunity to see more of a fan favorite character.

Beyond franchise fans, there’s also more broad appeal in the incredible cast, which is headed by relative newcomer Joseph Zada, but also features Ralph Fiennes, Jesse Plemons, Kieran Culkin, Mckenna Grace, Maya Hawke, and Glenn Close among others. If you’ve read the book already, you know this one is not an easy story, nor one that has a happy ending, but it sets some of the stepping stones that ultimately lead to Katniss Everdeen’s victory and the rebellion against President Snow (here delightfully recast with Ralph Fiennes).

The Hunger Games has had a huge impact, with a $3.3 billion footprint across its five movies to date, and an average of just over $660 million per entry. That was only really dragged down by 2023's prequel, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, which still took just shy of $350 million. Audiences care about these characters, and Haymitch’s prequel is a far easier sell than one following a character as evenly despised as Coriolanus Snow.

Crucially, Suzanne Collins’ prequel is the final published source material remaining in The Hunger Games series, making it important for closure, but if Sunrise on the Reaping does well, there could well be a dream of more.

Why Hunger Games: Sunrise on The Reaping Is Good For The Franchise's Future

Suzanne Collins may not yet have any firm plans to return to the Hunger Games, but if Sunrise on the Reaping delivers at the global box office, there’s no way Lionsgate will surrender the potential in the IP. Putting aside Collins’ involvement for a moment (which would be necessary for fans), there are 23 other Hunger Games events between the end of this prequel and the time of Katniss Everdeen. We even know some of the key events that happen in them.

The appeal of releasing more prequels is also down to the grim reality that Hunger Games fans like the events themselves. The original series moved away from the arena as the rebellion blossomed out into the real world, but the tragic spectacle of seeing child soldiers forced to fight to the death is, perversely, a draw. We could also, crucially, see more of the seeds of the rebellion: perhaps even more of the backstory of key figures like Plutarch Heavensbee and Beetee Latier.

The important point here is that there is potential beyond the books that have been written. And even for Collins, the impulse to write more of her dystopian world may prove too much, given the increasingly dystopian vibe of real-world oligarchy and overzealous political influence of real-life figures like President Snow. She has admitted she returns to the world of Panem when real world issues compel her, and, unfortunately, there’s more than enough source material to tell more of the stories of control and insidious propaganda that inspired Sunrise on the Reaping in the first place.

The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping comes to theaters worldwide on November 20, 2026.

The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping

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  Maysilee Donner

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  Joseph Zada

  Haymitch Abernathy

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  Whitney Peak

  Lenore Dove Baird

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  Plutarch Heavensbee