Suzanne Collins has announced that a new “Hunger Games” novel, titled “Sunrise on the Reaping,” will be released next year.
According to the Associated Press, the fifth novel in Collins’ bestselling series — which has been turned into a successful movie franchise — is also a prequel to the original trilogy, taking place 40 years after the events of the most recent tale, “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes,” the film adaptation of which released last year. “Sunrise on the Reaping” is set to release on March 18, 2025.
“With ‘Sunrise on the Reaping,’ I was inspired by David Hume’s idea of implicit submission and, in his words, ‘the easiness with which the many are governed by the few,’” Collins told the AP. “The story also lent itself to a deeper dive into the use of propaganda and the power of those who control the narrative. The question ‘Real or not real?’ seems more pressing to me every day.”
The film rights for the novel have not yet been announced, but one can assume that “Sunrise on the Reaping” will follow the path of its predecessors and make its way onto the big screen.
“The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes,” which premiered in November and starred Rachel Zegler and Tom Blyth, earned an impressive $337.4 million at the global box office. The original trilogy was adapted into four films starring Jennifer Lawrence, which were highly successful and catapulted her to worldwide fame. Altogether, the “Hunger Games” film series is the 20th highest-grossing franchise of all time, making $3.3 billion for Lionsgate.