Every Hunger Games Film, in Order

Panem is about to get older and younger at the same time. The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping opens in North American cinemas on Friday 20 November, and it is set 24 years before the first film, which means the sixth instalment rewinds the clock rather than advancing it. That makes November the month to settle the argument every rewatch starts with: release order or story order?

What follows is the watch order, film by film, along with a market-by-market check on where the five existing films stream. For everything on the record about the new film itself, The Remote‘s earlier briefing, Sunrise on the Reaping, Confirmed, has it covered. This guide is about arriving ready.

The films, in release order

1. The Hunger Games (2012). Gary Ross directs Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Woody Harrelson and Elizabeth Banks. The premise fits in a sentence: in a dystopian future, two teenagers, Katniss and Peeta, are drafted into a televised fight to the death.

2. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013). The handover. From here on, Francis Lawrence directs, and he has made every film in the franchise since: four before the new one.

3. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1 (2014).

4. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 2 (2015). Three novels became four films, with the final book split across Part 1 and Part 2.

5. The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (2023). Francis Lawrence again, now with Tom Blyth, Rachel Zegler, Peter Dinklage, Jason Schwartzman and Hunter Schafer. An 18-year-old Coriolanus Snow is chosen as a mentor for the Tenth Hunger Games and assigned the girl tribute from District 12.

6. The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping (20 November 2026). The novel it adapts opens on the morning of the reaping for the 50th Games, the Second Quarter Quell. Joseph Zada plays a young Haymitch Abernathy. Francis Lawrence directs a cast that also includes Ralph Fiennes, Elle Fanning, Jesse Plemons, Kieran Culkin, Maya Hawke, Glenn Close, Kelvin Harrison Jr., Mckenna Grace, Whitney Peak and Ben Wang.

The five films so far have grossed more than US$3.3 billion worldwide, by Lionsgate‘s count.

Story order, if you want Panem’s history straight

Rearranged along Panem’s own timeline, the run looks like this:

1. The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (the Tenth Games)
2. Sunrise on the Reaping (the 50th Games, 24 years before the first film)
3. The Hunger Games
4. Catching Fire
5. Mockingjay, Part 1
6. Mockingjay, Part 2

The catch is obvious. Sunrise on the Reaping is not out yet, so a pure story-order marathon cannot happen before 20 November. For most viewers the practical answer is release order now, with the new prequel slotted into place afterward.

Which order to choose

First-timers: release order. Both prequels are built around characters the original films introduce, President Snow and Haymitch, and meeting the older men first is what gives their younger selves weight.

Rewatchers on a deadline: two films. Start with the first Hunger Games, where the adult Haymitch walks into the story, then The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, the only existing film set in the Games’ early decades, the same stretch of history the new film returns to.

Completists: all five in release order, starting a couple of weeks out, then Sunrise on the Reaping on a big screen.

Where to stream each film, by market

Streaming rights for these films move often, and no one, studio or platform, has published a current market-by-market list. The Remote checked platform title pages on 27 October. Here is what they confirm, and what they leave open.

United States: Netflix’s US title pages for The Hunger Games, Catching Fire and both Mockingjay films show each as unavailable to watch in the country. Peacock’s franchise guide, last updated in January, says the four original films have streamed there, while warning that availability may vary over time; its individual title pages no longer show the films. Hulu keeps title pages for all five but does not say which plan includes them. Search Hulu, Peacock and Starz before paying for a rental.

Canada: no Canadian service lists any of the five films on a primary page. Search Crave, Netflix and Prime Video, and the services already on your streaming bills, before buying.

UK, Australia and New Zealand: no platform page confirms current subscription availability for any of the five. Check local services and the digital rental stores closer to your rewatch.

The new film, by market

Sunrise on the Reaping opens on 20 November in North America and on the same date in UK cinemas, and it is listed on IMAX‘s site. Australian and New Zealand dates had not appeared on a primary page at the time of writing.

For the rest of the late-autumn theatrical slate, The Remote‘s cinema guide has the dates, and its windows explainer covers how long new films take to reach streaming, the question most people ask about a film like this the week after it opens. And if a Harry Potter marathon is still fresh, the same rule holds here: release order first, prequels in context.

Where to watch

• The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping: in cinemas, CA and US from Friday 20 November; UK from 20 November; IMAX listed
• The Hunger Games to Mockingjay, Part 2: no current subscription home confirmed on a primary page in CA, US, UK, AU or NZ; check local services
• The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes: no current subscription home confirmed on a primary page; check local services

Sources

• Lionsgate: Lionsgate to adapt Sunrise on the Reaping, 6 Jun 2024
• Lionsgate: Lionsgate to adapt The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, 21 Apr 2020
• Lionsgate UK press materials: The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping, accessed 27 Oct 2026
• IMAX: The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping, accessed 27 Oct 2026
• Peacock: The Ultimate Guide to The Hunger Games Movies, updated 14 Jan 2026
• Hulu: The Hunger Games title page, accessed 27 Oct 2026
• Hulu: The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes title page, accessed 27 Oct 2026
• Netflix: The Hunger Games title page, US, accessed 27 Oct 2026