While most upcoming book adaptations happen years after the release of a given novel, the latest Hunger Games book was announced at the same time as its movie counterpart last summer. Suzanne Collins’ novel has been in fans’ hands for just a little less than three weeks at this point, and many are still emotionally processing the full story behind Haymitch Abernathy’s Hunger Games. Wildly enough, though the author recently provided some really interesting insight into the book's development.
I know I certainly imagined a reality where Sunrise on the Reaping was told from the perspective of the Haymitch introduced in the original Hunger Games trilogy. Suzanne Collins just shared that she actually considered going in that direction. As for why she decided to write the novel from a teen Haymitch’s point of view, she said the following:
I played around with it both ways, but I found that younger Haymitch speaks directly to the YA audience the best. An older person reflecting back on their youth or shifting into a child’s perspective is harder to pull off. Good work, Harper Lee!
After they check out her interview with Scholastic Books, some fans may find it interesting that Collins did indeed spend some time writing Sunrise on the Reaping from an older Haymitch’s perspective. Had she gone in that direction, it could've had a major effect on the upcoming film. It could've theoretically meant that the movie would be narrated by Haymitch actor Woody Harrelson.
Ultimately, I can understand why she decided to forgo the "older" approach to the story and frame it in the same way she did for Katniss Everdeen and Coriolanus Snow's arcs.
The author's approach makes sense given Sunrise On The Reaping and all the Hunger Games books are written for a young adult audience. (Of course, members of any other demographic can certainly pick up the books as well.) Perhaps a 40-year-old drunkard wouldn’t necessarily be as appealing to readers aged twelve to eighteen… or their parents.
While speaking about the book, Suzanne Collins was also asked how writing the book perhaps changed her perspective on the character of Haymitch. As she shared:
I don’t think it changed my understanding of him — Haymitch is still Haymitch — but it gave me room to explore his earlier journey. Like his relationship to Katniss via Burdock. What it meant to take on his best friend’s child and see her through the war and become her surrogate father. It was nice to have some time with that angle.
Collins also talked about how she enjoyed the chance of pace from Snow, who is a character she called “endlessly manipulative and controlling”. She described Haymitch as a tribute with a much “greater capacity for hope and love and joy” than even Katniss.
The writer's sentiments about the Hunger Games book are especially interesting after CinemaCon’s Lionsgate panel, during which new details about the movie were divulged. Amid that event, it was said that the upcoming flick will apparently be a “return to form” to the original trilogy for director Francis Lawrence.
As of this writing, fans are still waiting to learn who'll play young Haymitch following Woody Harrelson’s performance. On top of that, the Lionsgate production may also cast younger versions of Katniss’s parents, Caesar Flickerman, Plutarch Heavensbee and Coriolanus Snow for this Hunger Games movie. Ultimately, I'm glad Suzanne Collins landed on this specific direction for the book, and I'm hopeful that it all translates well to the adaptation.
You can read Sunrise on the Reaping now, and know that the movie is set to hit theaters on November 20, 2026.
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