‘The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping’ Is 2 Hours and 38 Minutes, Longest Film in the Franchise

Amid the deluge of Oscar contenders (and pretenders), I completely forgot this film was coming. It slipped off my radar. Lionsgate and ‘Hunger’ fans, I'm sure, haven’t forgotten.

"The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping" now carries a runtime of 2 hours and 38 minutes ahead of its November 20th release, which makes it the longest entry in the franchise. Yeah, I’ll be watching it, and — fingers crossed — I won’t feel its runtime.

That runtime edges out "The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes" by a single minute, and that film already felt like it had three endings. Francis Lawrence is back behind the camera, working from a screenplay by Billy Ray and Michael Lesslie.

This is a prequel, taking us back 24 years before the original "Hunger Games" and starting on the morning of the reaping for the 50th Games. That means a young Haymitch Abernathy, played by Joseph Zada, and a stacked supporting cast that includes Ralph Fiennes, Elle Fanning, Jesse Plemons, Kieran Culkin, Maya Hawke, Glenn Close, Mckenna Grace and Lili Taylor. Jennifer Lawrence has also confirmed that she will make a cameo.

I’m not the target demo, but this is going to make a lot of money. Suzanne Collins' novel was a phenomenon: more than 1.5 million copies sold worldwide in its first week, the biggest launch the series has ever had, with U.S. sales running at more than double the pace of ‘Songbirds.’ Right now, ‘Sunrise on the Reaping’ is tracking for a $60M opening, but I think it’ll be higher than that.

And it had better perform well. According to The Numbers, ‘Sunrise on the Reaping’ has a $185M budget, nearly double the $100M spent on ‘Songbirds,’ which opened to $44M and finished with roughly $348M worldwide. For context, ‘Catching Fire’ opened to $158M and topped out at $865M globally. I don't think ‘Sunrise’ gets back to those Jennifer Lawrence–era totals, but it’ll do well.

Now, for the million-dollar question: will it be any good? I will say that the film has tested very well, whatever that might mean these days.

Francis Lawrence has built a solid, if somewhat unspectacular, studio career spanning over two decades: “Constantine,” “I Am Legend,” “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire,” “Red Sparrow” — all respectable efforts. Hardly masterpieces, but he’s proven himself a steady hand, and there are plenty of far weaker filmmakers currently working at the major-studio level. If a good movie is what you’re looking for, he might deliver it.