SEAToday.com, Jakarta - A new “The Hunger Games” novel is on the way! Author Suzanne Collins returns with the fifth book in the series, titled “Sunrise on the Reaping”, set to hit the stores on March 18, 2025, said publisher Scholastic, Thursday (6/6/2024).

The new book will take place as a prequel to the original trilogy. It begins on the morning of the reaping of the 50th Hunger Games, or 24 years before the setting of the first “Hunger Games” novel, and 40 years after the most recent book, “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes”.

Lionsgate, which has released film adaptations of the books, had also announced “Sunrise on the Reaping” will hit the theaters on November 20, 2026. Francis Lawrence will also return as the director.

For the new book, Collins took inspiration from Scottish Enlightenment philosopher David Hume about the dynamics between rulers and the ruled. “The story also lent itself to a deeper dive into the use of propaganda and the power of those who control the narrative. The question ‘Real or not real?’ seems more pressing to me every day,” she said.