The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping movie, with both following the 50th Hunger Games and the victory of Haymitch Abernathy, the future mentor to the trilogy's main character Katniss Everdeen. Haymitch was portrayed by Woody Harrelson in the four movies adapting the original trilogy, through 2015's The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2.

Per The Hollywood Reporter, Sunrise on the Reaping has sold 1.5 million English-language copies across print books, ebooks, and audiobooks during its first week on the market in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand. 1.2 million of that total have been sold in the United States alone, making domestic sales twice those of the 2020 prequel The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes and triple those of the 2010 trilogy-capper Mockingjay during the first weeks of their respective publications.

Publisher's Weekly also reports that, in the United States, the book is the second-biggest debut of the year behind Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros and the third-biggest bestseller overall behind The Let Them Theory by Mel Robbins. Below, read the official announcement from the book's publisher, Scholastic, as well as a statement from Scholastic's Executive Vice President and President, Trade Publishing Ellie Berger:

Scholastic: 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 2019 and three times as many copies as Mockingjay in 2010.

Ellie Berger: After nearly a year of anticipation, sales for Sunrise on the Reaping have exceeded all expectations, as has the overwhelmingly positive critical and fan response to the book across the world.

What This Means For Sunrise On The Reaping

The Movie Could Become A Major Hit

This successful debut for the new Hunger Games book comes during a time when the franchise has hit something of a lull. Most recently, the 2023 adaptation of The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, which starred Tom Blyth and Rachel Zegler, grossed $349 million against its $100 million budget. While this was most likely more than enough to put the movie in the black, it fell far behind the lowest-grossing adaptation of a novel from the original trilogy, which was Mockingjay - Part 2 ($646.2 million).

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes follows the origin story of the trilogy's main villain President Coriolanus Snow.

The performance of Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes proves that the box office of the Hunger Games movies is not necessarily influenced by book sales, as the 2020 novel also outsold Mockingjay. However, because the new book is the highest-selling installment in more than 15 years, it still seems likely that its 2026 adaptation will outperform Ballad. In fact, if the movie outgrosses Ballad at the same level as the book, relative to the 2015 movie, it could gross more than $500 million worldwide, cementing the property as a viable cinematic franchise even after the conclusion of Katniss' story.

Our Take On The Sunrise On The Reaping Sales

The Franchise Could Keep Moving Forward

One thing that makes the Sunrise on the Reaping sales even more impressive is the fact that it is a standalone story in the Hunger Games franchise. Mockingjay concluded a tightly plotted continuing story, so it had many factors working in its favor to make it a much bigger hit than the Haymitch prequel. This likely spells good news for the continuation of the franchise. Because Collins has explored further stories from the universe outside of the original trilogy, it seems possible that she could have interest in exploring even more soon, both on the page and on the screen.

Source: THR & Publisher's Weekly