30-04-2025
‘Hunger Games: Sunrise On The Reaping' Set To Be Biggest Project On Sale At Cannes With A Budget North Of $150M — The Dish
EXCLUSIVE: Lionsgate's franchise returner The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping is set to be the biggest-budget project on sale at next month's Cannes market.
Market sources tell us the film's budget is being pegged north of $150M. Two sources tell us between $170-200M gross. This isn't shocking given the last film in the popular franchise, made almost a decade ago, had a reported budget of $160M. But it would still be the biggest budget movie to hit a film market in some time, a market that has become accustomed to smaller genre fare and where tentpole franchises aren't as common as they used to be. It's hard to recall the last movie with a budget in this range hitting the indie market. The Irishman did, but then was flipped to Netflix. Before that, it would probably be Mockingjay Part Two. More recently, Better Man had a budget north of $100M (that didn't end well), as did Emancipation (that was flipped to Apple) and Saudi-shot Desert Warrior (which remains in post after a long delay) has been reported as costing north of $100M gross, though that number is contested.
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Buyers are always hungry for a winner and the Hunger Games franchise has delivered for many in the past. The five films in the franchise have taken in more than $3.3BN at the box office. The asking prices are likely to be steep, however, and given global economic challenges and the sparsity of major indies today it'll be interesting to see who is able to stump up. We should know more on asking prices soon. At a time when so many buzzy properties get flipped to streamers and studios (in recent months, we've had Lionsgate and Henry Cavill's Highlander reboot and Natalie Portman rom-com Good Sex both go that way), it's good news for indie buyers to at least have a shot at a big franchise.
Filming is due to get underway in July on the film, which Francis Lawrence will direct from Billy Ray's adaptation of the Suzanne Collins novel.
As we revealed, Oscar nominee Jesse Plemons has been cast as Plutarch Heavensbee, joining Joseph Zada As Haymitch Abernathy, Whitney Peak As Lenore Dove Baird and Mckenna Grace as Maysilee Donner. Additional casting is in process.
Sunrise on the Reaping revisits the world of Panem twenty-four years before the events of The Hunger Games, starting on the morning of the reaping of the Fiftieth Hunger Games, also known as the Second Quarter Quell. The protagonist of the novel is the young Abernathy (portrayed by Woody Harrelson in the previous movies), the second male tribute from District 12 to enter the deadly arena.
The appetite for the books remains strong. The novel sold 1.5M copies in its first week on sale in the U.S., UK, Ireland, Canada, Australia and New Zealand after it hit shelves in March. The 1.2M copies sold in its first week in the U.S. are twice the first-week sales of The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes and three times those of Mockingjay.
Pic is slated for release on November 20, 2026. Color Force's Nina Jacobson and Brad Simpson will produce. In the U.S., Starz will have an exclusive first pay window, which will be followed by another exclusive window for Amazon Prime.
As for other buzzy pre-sale projects set to be on sale at Cannes, A24 will be on the Croisette with the Brad Pitt movie The Riders from director Edward Berger and producer Scott Free, which we revealed earlier this week. The company will also be talking to buyers about Robert Pattinson and Zendaya starrer The Drama. There are plenty more projects still to be announced. Stay tuned to Deadline for the latest.
Lionsgate declined to comment.
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