The Hunger Games film franchise
What is the Hunger Games film franchise?
Is the 2026 Hunger Games movie a prequel?
Is Jennifer Lawrence in The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping?
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The Hunger Games film franchise, series of dystopian films based on the best-selling young adult novels by Suzanne Collins. The franchise originally consisted of four movies—The Hunger Games (2012), Catching Fire (2013), Mockingjay Part 1 (2014), and Mockingjay Part 2 (2015)—that star Jennifer Lawrence as the resourceful and brave Katniss Everdeen. The series was later expanded with the release of the prequels The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes (2023) and Sunrise on the Reaping (scheduled for release on November 20, 2026), which are set decades before the main storyline. Collins was a cowriter of the screenplay of the first film, which was directed by Gary Ross. The subsequent films in the series were all directed by Francis Lawrence. The Hunger Games is a hugely successful film franchise, having grossed more than $3.3 billion worldwide.
Editor’s note: This article contains spoilers.
Plot summaries
The Hunger Games (2012)
The Hunger Games series takes place in an authoritarian and fascist state called Panem, which has been established in North America after a series of environmental and climate disasters. The wealthy central government—the Capitol—brutally oppresses and exploits the citizens from the outlying districts, who live in poverty and have few rights. The rulers in the Capitol have instituted the televised Hunger Games as a means to entertain residents of the Capitol and to punish and discourage district residents from rebelling. For each edition of the Games, a girl and a boy, between the ages of 12 and 18, are chosen from each district via a lottery system. These children, called “tributes,” compete to the death in a reality TV–style survivalist competition, fighting each other and facing obstacles orchestrated by the head gamemaker until only one remains.
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The first installment of the film franchise, The Hunger Games, was released on March 23, 2012, and follows the perspective of the 16-year-old Katniss Everdeen. When her younger sister, Primrose (Willow Shields), is selected (“reaped”) as the female tribute for District 12 in the 74th Hunger Games, Katniss volunteers to go in her place and asks her childhood friend Gale Hawthorne (Liam Hemsworth) to look after her family in her absence. She and the District 12 male tribute, Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson), are taken to the Capitol to train for the competition and make media appearances in the run-up to the Games. They are assisted by chaperone (“escort”) Effie Trinket (Elizabeth Banks) and mentor and past Hunger Games winner Haymitch Abernathy (Woody Harrelson). The movie follows Katniss’s journey through the Games, which ends with her and Peeta’s joint victory, the first in Panem history.
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013)
The second film was released on November 22, 2013, and is set in the aftermath of Katniss and Peeta’s win. Panem President Coriolanus Snow (Donald Sutherland) sees their victory as an act of defiance and blames them for sparking revolts in various districts against the Capitol. He forces them to embark on a Victory Tour in an attempt to calm the populace, but the public anger only escalates. The 75th Hunger Games are announced, but, in a departure from tradition, tributes are chosen from the pool of past victors. Katniss is reaped, and Peeta takes the place of Haymitch, who was initially selected, so the two must compete in the Games once more.
During the Games they form alliances with other competitors, including Wiress (Amanda Plummer) and Beetee (Jeffrey Wright) from District 3 and Johanna (Jena Malone) from District 7. The Games conclude without a winner after Katniss disables the force field protecting the arena and is whisked away in a hovercraft. Haymitch and head gamemaker Plutarch Heavensbee (Philip Seymour Hoffman), who secretly supports the rebellion, tell Katniss that the Capitol has taken Peeta and Johanna hostage and destroyed her home, District 12. She and several others head to District 13, where Katniss, called the “Mockingjay,” is expected to serve as the figurehead of a full-scale rebellion.
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 (2014) and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 (2015)
The Mockingjay movies were released on November 21, 2014, and November 20, 2015, and follow the complex workings of the secret rebellion against the Capitol. Rebel leader Alma Coin (Julianne Moore), who is president of District 13, attempts to use Katniss in propaganda to mobilize the districts to side with the insurgency. Snow in turn manipulates a brainwashed Peeta as leverage against Katniss and the rebellion. The District 13 rebels and the Capitol engage in a series of attacks, counterattacks, and clandestine missions. Katniss and the other insurgents infiltrate the Capitol, and Snow’s rule is on the brink of collapse. The citizens of the Capitol finally turn against Snow after a ship appearing to belong to his forces drops bombs on a crowd of children and medics there. The rebellion wins the war. However, Katniss learns from Snow that the bombing was in fact a false flag operation staged by Coin.
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Coin, now acting as de facto president of Panem, proposes to hold a symbolic revenge Hunger Games, with Capitol children serving as tributes. Katniss agrees to support the plan but demands that she be allowed to execute Snow. At the execution, she instead shoots Coin and lets the mob surge to kill Snow. Eventually, Katniss is pardoned, and the Games are abolished. The film closes with a peaceful scene showing Katniss and Peeta married with children.
The Hunger Games series was partly inspired by author Suzanne Collins’s interest in the world of the Roman Empire. The titular competition bears some resemblance to the famous gladiatorial combats staged in amphitheaters and arenas, such as the Colosseum. In addition, numerous character names pay tribute to ancient antecedents, including the legendary Roman hero Gnaeus Marcius Coriolanus and the plotting official Sejanus. In interviews, Collins has likened Katniss Everdeen to Spartacus, an enslaved man who became a gladiator and then led the Third Servile War, a rebellion against Rome.
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes (2023)
The first prequel film, The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, was released on November 17, 2023. It tells Snow’s origin story and is set at the time of the 10th Hunger Games, 64 years prior to the events of the first film. The 18-year-old Snow (Tom Blyth) lives in the Capitol, but his family has declined in status after the death of his father at the hands of rebels outside the city. He attempts to restore his family’s stature by mentoring the District 12 female tribute, Lucy Gray Baird (Rachel Zegler). She wins the 10th Hunger Games because of her charismatic musical talents and Snow’s secret tampering. He is then forced to join the Peacekeepers, the paramilitary police, and is assigned to District 12. There, he and Lucy Gray reunite and fall in love. However, Snow’s ambition and political paranoia, combined with the influence of the calculating head gamemaker Dr. Volumnia Gaul (Viola Davis), ultimately drive him to betray his closest friend, Sejanus (Josh Andrés Rivera). Snow is forced to attempt to kill Lucy Gray to protect his secrets and returns to the Capitol an embittered, hardened man.
The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping (2026)
Sunrise on the Reaping is set to be released on November 20, 2026. It will take place during the 50th Hunger Games, for which four tributes are reaped from each district for a total of 48 contestants. The film is expected to follow 16-year-old Haymitch (Joseph Zada), who is reaped as a District 12 tribute alongside Maysilee (Mckenna Grace), Wyatt (Ben Wang), and Louella (Molly McCann).
Cast
| character | actor in original four films (2012–15) | actor in The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes (2023) | actor in Sunrise on the Reaping (2026) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Katniss Everdeen: the protagonist of the original four films. A seasoned hunter from District 12, she is one of the victors of the 74th Hunger Games. She later becomes the “Mockingjay,” a symbolic figurehead of the rebellion against the Capitol. | Jennifer Lawrence | Jennifer Lawrence | |
| Peeta Mellark: Katniss’s primary love interest. He is a District 12 tribute and co-victor of the 74th Hunger Games. He is the son of a baker and is artistic and clever. | Josh Hutcherson | Josh Hutcherson | |
| Coriolanus Snow: the autocratic ruler of Panem | Donald Sutherland | Tom Blyth | Ralph Fiennes |
| Haymitch Abernathy: District 12’s victor of the 50th Hunger Games. He later mentors Katniss and Peeta for the 74th Hunger Games and becomes a key player in the rebellion. He is the protagonist of Sunrise on the Reaping. | Woody Harrelson | Woody Harrelson and Joseph Zada | |
| Gale Hawthorne: childhood friend and secondary love interest of Katniss. He is a skilled hunter who protects his family and Katniss’s family and later joins the rebellion as a soldier. | Liam Hemsworth | ||
| Primrose Everdeen: Katniss’s younger sister. Gentle and caring, she serves as a nurse for the rebellion, which results in her death at the final battle for the Capitol. | Willow Shields | ||
| Effie Trinket: a posh and exuberant Capitol resident who works as a chaperone, or “escort,” for District 12 tributes. She works closely with Katniss and Peeta. | Elizabeth Banks | Elle Fanning | |
| Finnick Odair: the charismatic District 4 victor of the 65th Hunger Games, the youngest victor in history. He survives the 75th Hunger Games and works closely with the rebellion. | Sam Claflin | ||
| Johanna Mason: a District 7 tribute and victor of the 71st Hunger Games. She is publicly enraged and defiant when reaped for the 75th Hunger Games. She is later taken prisoner by the Capitol forces before being rescued by the rebels. | Jena Malone | ||
| Caesar Flickerman: an energetic and extravagant host of the Hunger Games for some 40 years, who interviews tributes the night before each Hunger Games competition begins. | Stanley Tucci | Kieran Culkin | |
| Plutarch Heavensbee: the head gamemaker for the 75th Hunger Games. He is a highly influential Capitol citizen who secretly works with the rebellion as a commander and strategist. | Philip Seymour Hoffman | Jesse Plemons | |
| Beetee Latier: nicknamed “Volts,” the District 3 tribute and victor of the 34th Hunger Games. The Capitol exploits him for his technical innovations, but he later is used by the rebels to make weapons and facilitate communications. | Jeffrey Wright | Kelvin Harrison, Jr. | |
| Wiress: nicknamed “Nuts” by Johanna, the District 3 female tribute and victor of the 49th Hunger Games. After her victory, she suffers severe mental deterioration and trauma, which contributes to her odd eccentricities. | Amanda Plummer | Maya Hawke | |
| Alma Coin: the calculating leader of the rebellion and the president of District 13. | Julianne Moore | ||
| Lucy Gray Baird: the female District 12 tribute and victor of the 10th Hunger Games. A member of the nomadic musician group, the Covey, she captivates the Capitol with her singing. Her spiraling relationship with her mentor, Coriolanus Snow, results in her disappearance. | Rachel Zegler | ||
| Dr. Volumnia Gaul: the cruel head gamemaker for the early Hunger Games | Viola Davis |