Author Suzanne Collins is returning to the world of Panem.
Collins and her publisher Scholastic announced on Thursday that a new installment in the “Hunger Games” series will be published next year.
The fifth book in the series is titled “Sunrise on the Reaping” and is scheduled to be released on March 18, 2025.
Late Thursday, Lionsgate announced that a new movie based on the novel is in the works. “The Hunger Games: 2: Sunrise on the Leaping” would be the sixth film in the series.
Sunrise is set 24 years before the events of the first Hunger Games novel and “begins on the morning of the harvest of the 50th Hunger Games, also known as the Second Quarter Quell,” according to Scholastic. The games are notable for being won by Haymitch Abernathy, who was the only winner from District 12 before Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark won the games 24 years later. Like the other winners, Haymitch became a leader for the district's tributes, and is played by Woody Harrelson in the Hunger Games remake.
All previous books in the series have been made into feature films by Lionsgate, with the last instalment, “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes,” grossing about $340 million at the box office last year.
The first four films in the series, starring Jennifer Lawrence, grossed about $3 billion at the box office.
“In Harvest Morning, I was inspired by David Hume's notion of implicit obedience and, in his words, 'the ease with which the few control the many,'” Collins said in a statement. “The story also helped me to delve deeper into the uses of propaganda and the power of those who control the narrative. The question of 'real or unreal' seems more urgent to me each day.”
“Suzanne Collins has once again transported us back to the world of Panem, asking important questions about our own,” added Ellie Berger, president of Scholastic Trade Inc. “Sunrise on the Leaping is a remarkable book, bringing new complexity, perspective and revelations to parts of The Hunger Games story that readers have wanted to know more about.”
June 6, 9:15 a.m. Updated with Lionsgate film news.