Early Buzz Says the New Hunger Games Might Be the Best One Yet

Hunger Games fans, get ready to argue. The first reactions to The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping started rolling in after the film's London premiere Wednesday night, and many use the same phrase: best in the franchise.

Full reviews are still under embargo, so these are quick social media takes from critics and movie accounts who were there. Critic Clotilde Chinnici called it "the best Hunger Games yet" and praised the cinematography, sets, and acting. One account warned it's "more brutal than you could imagine". The Nerds of Color called lead actor Joseph Zada "electrifying", and Next Best Picture's Matt Neglia singled out Glenn Close as a scene-stealer, describing her look as Drusilla Sickle as genuinely horror-inducing.

If you need a refresher, this one goes back to Haymitch Abernathy's own trip through the Games, long before he became Katniss's grumpy mentor. Zada plays the young Haymitch, the role Woody Harrelson made famous. It's a sequel to 2023's The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes and a prequel to the original 2012 film. Francis Lawrence is back to direct, and the cast is stacked: Mckenna Grace, Whitney Peak, Jesse Plemons, Elle Fanning, Kieran Culkin, Ralph Fiennes, and Billy Porter. Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson and Harrelson are also back in some form, which has fans very curious.

The film opens November 20, and the series has already pulled in $3.3 billion worldwide. Of course, premiere-night reactions tend to run hot, so it's worth waiting for the full reviews before crowning anything.

Can anyone really top the original with Jennifer Lawrence, or is Haymitch's story the darker, better one?