Billy Ray is back in business on The Hunger Games.

The Oscar-nominated scribe, who put pen to paper on the blockbuster that started it all back in 2012, has been tapped to write the screenplay for the next installment of franchise by adapting Suzanne Collins newest bestseller The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping.

The news got a big reveal from the Colosseum stage inside Caesars Palace in Las Vegas during Lionsgates studio presentation on Tuesday morning. As previously reported, The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reapingwill be directed by Francis Lawrence, and it already has a worldwide release date set for Nov. 20, 2026. Also during its CinemaCon presentation, Lionsgate unveiled the animated logo for The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping. Lawrence appeared on stage and said the book is probably my favorite in the blockbuster series as it marks an epic story with a jaw-dropping twist. He confirmed that shooting is expected to start in July, and the team is deep in the casting process. Weve been working on this draft for a year, most of it under lock and key secrecy, said Lawrence, who also noted that he leaves this week for prep.

Set in the Hunger Games universe, the book returns to the world of Panem 24 years before the events of The Hunger Games, starting on the morning of the reaping of the 50th Hunger Games, also known as the Second Quarter Quell, when Haymitch Abernathy (portrayed by Woody Harrelson in the original films) competes. The filmis being produced by Color Forces Nina Jacobson and Brad Simpson with Cameron MacConomy serving as executive producer. Meredith Wieck and Scott OBrien are overseeing the project for Lionsgate. Phil Strina negotiated the deal on behalf of the studio.

Rays writing gig is not the only news on Sunrise on the Reaping this month. As The Hollywood Reporter noted last week, Scholastic announced that Collins new novel in the Hunger Games series had sold more than 1.5 million world English copies including print, e-books, and audiobooks in its first week on sale in the U.S., U.K., Ireland, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. The sales figures bested previous installments.

With more than 1.2 million copies sold in the U.S. alone, Sunrise on the Reaping has sold twice as many copies its first week on sale domestically as The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes in 2020 and three times as many copies as Mockingjay in 2010, Scholastic confirmed.

Ray collaborated with Collins and Gary Ross on the original Hunger Games film, which went on to snag nearly $700 million worldwide. He earned an Oscar nomination for his work onthe Tom Hanks-starrer Captain Phillips. His other credits include Shattered Glass, Flightplan, The Last Tycoon, Terminator: Dark Fate, Richard Jewell and The Comey Rule.

Rays upcoming work includes the featureAnimalsnow in production with Ben Affleck at the helm, andhis debut novel, Burn the Water, set for release from Scholastic Books on March 3, 2026. He is repped by CAA and the law firm of Lichter Grossman.

CinemaCon, the annual gathering of cinema owners and Hollywood studios, is hosted in Las Vegas by the newly rebranded Cinema United, which for decades was known as the National Association of Theatre Owners. This years edition runs from March 31 to April 3.