Earlier today, there was a one-two punch of an announcement involving the Suzanne Collins series. On Facebook, I came across a post mentioning a new book and a few hours later, I came across another mentioning a movie.
Getting to the details, "Sunrise on the Reaping" (the book) will be released March 18 2025 and the movie is coming out November 20 2026. And it focuses on the 50th Hunger Games, aka the 2nd Quarter Quell.
I didn't get the significance of this until I started reading comments. Once I did, unlike with the previous prequel, I knew this was a book I definitely wanted to read. And of course I'll go see the movie the next year, although that depends a lot on how much I liked the book.
This particular Hunger Games is the one Haymitch won. The only victor from District 12 prior to Katniss and Peeta during the 74th Games. At least I think he's the only victor because he was the only mentor they had during their games.
So, a couple of things...
I have yet to see read The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes or see its film adaptation. The only possibility of this changing is if I'm able to find a copy at the latest used book sale on the cheap. All I know is that it's about Cornelius Snow before he became President Snow, during his first Hunger Games as Gamemaker.
This dude is the villain of the original trilogy. Why the hell should I care about his origin story? And any attempt to make him sympathetic or redeem his character in some way by exploring his inner conflict and complexities... I seriously don't care. I really don't want to like this guy. He's a ruthless dictator. Nothing more.
Haymitch, on the other hand, I wouldn't mind learning more about. Plus this being a Quarter Quell games will make it extra interesting. Every 25th games, there's a new gimmick. A different set of rules at play. If the 75th one was essentially an all-star game, I'm very intrigued to see what this one has in store.
Of course, Woody Harrelson's portrayal in the movies has a little bit to do with it. He was perfectly cast in the role. So perfectly that whoever plays the younger version of the character is going to have some BIG shoes to fill.
Not sure why, but when I read the first book, I pictured Haymitch as an overweight Asian guy. Maybe not Sumo wrestler big, but large enough where him falling drunk off the stage during the Reaping left a bit of an impact. Then I saw the movie and that image wasn't matched up... but I didn't care. It was my first time seeing Woody Harrelson in any role and he played the character really well. Although in retrospect, he was probably just playing himself but from the perspective of someone who'd been through the Hunger Games and still enduring the PTSD 20+ years later. Most of the characters he plays are very similar so I kinda know what his type is by now.
Chances are the book is going to be hard to come by when it comes out less than a year from now, so it'll probably be a future Amazon purchase.
One final note:
Yes, this is a brilliant idea, but part of me can't help but wonder if more are on the horizon. Are all of the victors that took part in the 75th Hunger Games ("Catching Fire") going to get their own book?
I've been secretly hoping for years to get an anthology or some sort of compilation of the previous 73 Hunger Games. It's a morbid premise, but it's also oddly fascinating. I can't quite explain why and I don't know how many of the other fans can adequately put it into words. All this being said, how many prequel books can we expect to see? I'm just hoping that there aren't going to be too many of them... not just the money I'll end up spending but how much shelf space this could take up.
It wouldn't be as much of a money pit as the unreleased Prince music his estate is working toward releasing, but still... just something for me to think about.
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