Suzanne Collins Is Releasing A New ‘Hunger Games’ Novel, ‘Sunrise On The Reaping,’ Next Year

NEW YORK — Suzanne Collins, inspired by an 18th-century Scottish philosopher and the current scourge of misinformation, is returning to the wrecked, post-apocalyptic land of Panem for a new “The Hunger Games” book.

Scholastic announced Thursday that the fifth volume of Collins’ smash dystopian series, “Sunrise on the Reaping,” will be released on March 18, 2025. The new book opens with the reaping of the Fiftieth Hunger Games, which takes place 24 years before the original “Hunger Games” novel, published in 2008, and 40 years after Collins’ most recent work, “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.”

Suzanne Collins | Amazon Image

Suzanne Collins Is Releasing A New ‘Hunger Games’ Novel, ‘Sunrise On The Reaping,’ Next Year

Collins’ previous “Hunger Games” books were based on Greek mythology and Roman gladiator sports. However, in her future novel, she credits Scottish Enlightenment philosopher David Hume.

“With ‘Sunrise on the Reaping,’ I was inspired by David Hume’s idea of implicit submission and, in his words, ‘the easiness with which the many are governed by the few,'” Collins stated in a statement. “The story also provided an opportunity to delve more into the use of propaganda and the power of those in charge of the narrative. The question ‘Real or not real?’ becomes more relevant to me every day.”

Suzanne Collins | Variety Image

Suzanne Collins Is Releasing A New ‘Hunger Games’ Novel, ‘Sunrise On The Reaping,’ Next Year

The film rights have yet to be announced. All four prior books have been turned into films, resulting in a multibillion-dollar franchise for Lionsgate that starred Jennifer Lawrence as heroine Katniss Everdeen in “The Hunger Games,” “Catching Fire,” and “Mockingjay,” the latter of which was released in two episodes.

The first four “Hunger Games” books sold over 100 million copies and were translated into dozens of languages. Collins appeared to have stopped the series with the 2010 publication of “Mockingjay,” saying in 2015 that it was “time to move on to other lands.” But four years later, she startled readers and the publishing world by revealing she was writing “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes,” which would be released in 2020 and set 64 years before the first novel.

Suzanne Collins | Slate Image

Suzanne Collins Is Releasing A New ‘Hunger Games’ Novel, ‘Sunrise On The Reaping,’ Next Year

The cinematic version of “Songbirds and Snakes,” starring Tom Blyth and Rachel Zegler, was released last year.

SOURCE – (AP)