# Haymitch gets a backstory in Sunrise on the Reaping trailer

> The new Hunger Games prequel follows a young Haymitch Abernathy into the arena 24 years before Katniss.
- Title: Haymitch gets a backstory in Sunrise on the Reaping trailer
- Summary: The new Hunger Games prequel follows a young Haymitch Abernathy into the arena 24 years before Katniss. Sunrise on the Reaping reveals how Haymitch won his…
- Keywords: the hunger games, sunrise on the reaping, haymitch abernathy, lionsgate, joseph zada, mckenna grace, ralph fiennes, president snow, wildwood, laika studios, stop-motion animation, film trailers
- Source: Ars Technica — https://arstechnica.com/culture/2026/09/haymitch-gets-a-backstory-in-sunrise-on-the-reaping-trailer
- Published: 2026-09-16T20:44:41+00:00
- Read time: 1 min
- Topics: the hunger games, sunrise on the reaping, haymitch abernathy, lionsgate, joseph zada, mckenna grace, ralph fiennes, president snow, wildwood, laika studios, stop-motion animation, film trailers
## Haymitch's origin story arrives
Lionsgate dropped a trailer for Sunrise on the Reaping, showing young Haymitch Abernathy before he became Katniss and Peeta's mentor.
## Set 24 years before Katniss
The film follows Haymitch into the arena where he teams up with Maysilee Donner and tries to take down the Games from within.
## The Second Quarter Quell
Haymitch competes in the 50th Hunger Games, where each district must send twice as many tributes to fight to the death.
## A star-studded cast
Joseph Zada plays young Haymitch alongside Ralph Fiennes as President Snow, Glenn Close, Kieran Culkin, Elle Fanning, and Maya Hawke.
## Katniss's parents appear
The film introduces Asterid March, Maysilee's best friend and future mother to Katniss, plus Burdock Everdeen, Katniss's future father.
## Laika's Wildwood also coming
Laika Studios released a trailer for its stop-motion film about a girl whose baby brother is kidnapped by crows into a magical forest.
## Both films hit theaters soon
Wildwood opens October 23, while Sunrise on the Reaping arrives November 20.
## Key takeaway

Sunrise on the Reaping reveals how Haymitch won his Games and sparked the rebellion that changed Panem.