Panem is open for business early. Advance ticket sales for The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping are running ahead of both Wicked and Michael at the same point in their sales cycles, Deadline reported, as summarized by Comic Basics. The prequel opens Nov. 20 in theaters and IMAX.
The presales are a post-pandemic record for Lionsgate, according to the report, and they have pushed the film's domestic opening forecast to $80 million or more. A week earlier, projections sat between $60 million and $70 million. Pixel Twelve also noted the higher forecast, describing the advance sales as the studio's strongest since the pandemic.
A rebound for the franchise
The comparisons set a high bar. Wicked opened to $112.5 million in November 2024, and Michael opened to $97.2 million domestically.
A strong start would also reverse the slide of the last entry. The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes opened to $44.6 million in November 2023, the lowest debut in the series. The first four films each opened above $100 million, led by Catching Fire at roughly $158 million. The new film carries a reported budget of $170 million to $200 million, compared with about $100 million for Songbirds & Snakes.
Adapted from Suzanne Collins' novel, Sunrise on the Reaping follows a 16-year-old Haymitch Abernathy, played by Joseph Zada, through the 50th Hunger Games, known as the Second Quarter Quell. The cast includes Whitney Peak, Mckenna Grace, Ralph Fiennes, Elle Fanning, Kieran Culkin and Jesse Plemons. Francis Lawrence, who has directed every film in the franchise except the first, returns.
The book gave the film a running start. It sold 1.5 million copies worldwide in its first week, the biggest debut in the series, and the first teaser drew 109 million views in 24 hours, Comic Basics reported. The film held its world premiere in London on Oct. 28, the same day tickets went on sale.
The report cautioned that presales are an early signal driven by devoted fans and that the film could be front-loaded. Its path through the holiday corridor looks open, though. Disney's Hexed, tracking at $35 million to $45 million, arrives over Thanksgiving weekend, and Deadline noted no blockbuster on the scale of Wicked or Moana 2 is dated for that frame.
