The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping

Set twenty-four years before the events of The Hunger Games, the story follows sixteen-year-old Haymitch Abernathy on the morning of the reaping for the 50th Hunger Games — the Second Quarter Quell. Haymitch lives in District 12's impoverished Seam with his widowed mother and younger brother Sid, working illegally for a local bootlegger named Hattie Meeney. He is secretly in love with Lenore Dove Baird, a member of the Covey, a nomadic musical group who holds quiet convictions that the districts will one day be free. The Second Quarter Quell's special twist doubles the tribute count: each district must send four tributes instead of two. When one of the selected boys, Woodbine Chance, attempts to flee and is killed on the spot, Haymitch is conscripted as his replacement. District 12's four tributes are Haymitch, oddsmaker Wyatt Callow, his friend Louella McCoy, and the wealthy Maysilee Donner. During the lavish Tribute Parade in the Capitol, a chariot accident kills Louella. Haymitch defiantly carries her body past President Snow and then applauds him mockingly in front of the crowd. Snow privately corners Haymitch afterward and threatens him with a slow, painful death. Capitol authorities quietly replace Louella with a kidnapped, drugged body double from District 11, whom Haymitch nicknames 'Lou Lou,' in order to keep the charade of four District 12 tributes intact. Because District 12 has no living victors, Haymitch and his fellow tributes are mentored by Wiress and Mags, who struggle to reach them through Capitol interference. Former victor Beetee secretly recruits Haymitch into a covert rebel sabotage operation: Haymitch is to plant explosives designed to flood the arena's computer systems and disrupt the Games. Inside the arena, which is laced with poisonous mutts and environmental hazards, the tributes begin dying quickly. Wyatt is killed on the first day while trying to protect Lou Lou; Lou Lou herself soon dies from exposure to toxic pollen. The sabotage plan only partially succeeds — the explosives detonate but fail to disable the Capitol's systems. At a critical moment, Maysilee saves Haymitch from a pack of carnivorous squirrel mutts using a poisonous dart gun. The two form an uneasy alliance and discover that the arena is bounded by a powerful force field concealing a Capitol power generator, where Gamemakers are conducting maintenance. Maysilee and a Career tribute kill the Gamemakers, but shortly afterward Maysilee is fatally attacked by waterbird mutts and dies in Haymitch's arms. The remaining competitors narrow to Haymitch, a Newcomer named Wellie, and the formidable Career tribute Silka. Wellie is killed by Silka, leaving Haymitch as the final opponent. In the climactic confrontation, Silka hurls an axe at Haymitch; he dodges and the axe rebounds off the force field, killing Silka. Haymitch detonates his remaining explosives against the force field in a final act of defiance but is rendered unconscious by the blast. He awakens in the Capitol to discover that the televised broadcast of the Games has been heavily edited to erase all signs of rebellion or resistance from the footage. Upon returning home to District 12, Haymitch finds his house burned to the ground and his mother and brother murdered — Snow's retaliation for his public defiance. His reunion with Lenore Dove ends in tragedy when Haymitch unknowingly gives her a poisoned gumdrop that President Snow has had planted, and she dies. Utterly broken by grief and guilt, Haymitch retreats into severe alcoholism. Rebel leader Plutarch Heavensbee makes contact and urges him to keep resisting, but Haymitch is consumed by loss. In an epilogue set years later, Haymitch shares his story with Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark, and finds a quiet solace in tending a flock of geese — an act of remembrance for Lenore Dove. Note: the film has not yet been released as of the research date (September 2026); this plot reflects the source novel by Suzanne Collins, on which the film is a direct adaptation.

Sources: Wikipedia (novel article), Wikipedia (film article)