Jennifer Lawrence Confirms Katniss Returns in Sunrise on the Reaping

Evening News · Thursday 29 October 2026

Jennifer Lawrence has finally said it out loud: Katniss Everdeen is back for The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping, and so are Josh Hutcherson and Woody Harrelson. Also tonight: James Gunn rules that The Suicide Squad counts in the DCU but leaves Harley Quinn’s future open, Alfonso Cuarón’s horror series Ascension adds three more stars, Joey King and LaKeith Stanfield fall for each other in an alien comedy, John Goodman joins The Beast in Me, and a Swedish techno-horror finds a buyer for the world.

The News That Matters

Jennifer Lawrence confirms Katniss returns in Sunrise on the Reaping

• What happened: Jennifer Lawrence confirmed on the Call Her Daddy podcast that she plays Katniss Everdeen again in The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping, in a cameo set in a flash-forward, Radio Times and The Hollywood Reporter reported
• Who else is back: Lawrence said Josh Hutcherson (Peeta) and Woody Harrelson (Haymitch) also return. “Josh and I didn’t walk to the bathroom without our arms around each other,” she said, adding that being back with the same crew was “so crazy”
• The film: Set 24 years before the first film, it follows a young Haymitch Abernathy, played by Joseph Zada, in the 50th Hunger Games, the Second Quarter Quell. Elle Fanning plays Effie Trinket, Jesse Plemons is Plutarch Heavensbee and Ralph Fiennes is President Snow
• UK availability: In UK cinemas on Friday 20 November 2026, from Lionsgate

Watch the trailer

This had been the worst-kept secret in Panem since the novel came out, but hearing it from Lawrence herself still lands. A brief flash-forward is the right size for it: the film belongs to Haymitch, and the original trio are there to remind us where his story leads. If you missed it, Lionsgate also released an official fan edit trailer this week.

James Gunn says The Suicide Squad is DCU canon, but Harley Quinn’s future is open

• What happened: On The Suicide Squad: Is It Canon? The Official Podcast, a one-off episode with Jennifer Holland and Steve Agee, DC Studios co-head James Gunn declared that his 2021 film is part of the DCU, with “one small asterisk”: Harley Quinn, The Playlist reported
• On Margot Robbie: “I don’t know if she wants to play Harley again. She may be over that,” Gunn said. Harley is a character he is “almost certainly going to use”, and if Robbie wants to play her he will “bend over backwards” to explain it; if not, he might cast someone else
• Why it is tricky: Harley’s history is tied to the Joker, and Gunn said the DCU has not yet established whether the Joker exists. He also said the DCU’s Batman is still uncast
• UK availability: The podcast is already on Spotify ahead of its official launch on Friday 30 October. No new DCU film or series is attached to the news

It is a candid answer, and a sensible one. Robbie has made Harley her own across three films, but she is now one of the biggest stars in the world and may well have moved on. Making the character’s canon status depend on her choice gives Gunn room either way. For the DC film that is in cinemas now, read our Clayface Super Review.

Update: Alfonso Cuarón’s Ascension adds Amanda Plummer, Christopher Chung and T’Nia Miller

• What is new: Amanda Plummer (Butterfly Kiss), Christopher Chung (Slow Horses) and T’Nia Miller (The Haunting of Bly Manor) have joined the series regular cast of Apple TV’s Ascension, Deadline reported. Their roles have not been revealed
• Already on board: Caitríona Balfe leads and executive produces, and Bill Nighy joined earlier this week
• The story: Inspired by Adam Nevill’s novel Last Days, the psychological horror thriller follows Rose (Balfe), a documentary filmmaker and recently divorced mother whose project on a mysterious 20th-century cult, the Church of Ascension, leads her somewhere far more sinister. Alfonso and Carlos Cuarón are among the writers and executive producers
• UK availability: Will stream on Apple TV; UK date not yet confirmed

This is a cracking bit of casting for a horror series. Miller was one of the best things in The Haunting of Bly Manor, Plummer brings an unsettling edge to everything she does, and Chung gives the cast another Slow Horses regular. We first covered the series when Bill Nighy signed up on Tuesday.

Joey King and LaKeith Stanfield fall for each other in alien comedy Safe Space

• What happened: Joey King (Bullet Train, The Act) and LaKeith Stanfield (Judas and the Black Messiah) will star in Safe Space, a sci-fi comedy about toxic relationships, Variety reported. Lucky Number, CAA Media Finance and WME Independent are launching sales at the American Film Market
• The story: King plays Sherrie, a brilliant but insecure scientist who escapes a toxic relationship with a co-worker only to rebound into “the most toxic relationship in the galaxy” with a gorgeous alien, played by Stanfield
• Who’s making it: Written and directed by Gillian Wallace Horvat (I Blame Society), and produced by Karen Lunder, who worked on Denis Villeneuve’s Arrival. It is in financing, with filming planned in the US in the second quarter of 2027
• UK availability: UK date not yet confirmed

Horvat’s debut, I Blame Society, was a sharp, uncomfortable comedy, so expect this to have teeth. It is also a quick new project for Stanfield, who, as this morning’s edition reported, has just left the horror film Molepeople.

John Goodman joins Claire Danes in The Beast in Me season 2

• What happened: John Goodman has joined the second season of Netflix’s The Beast in Me, Variety and Deadline reported. He plays Jack, the father of Claire Danes’s author Aggie Wiggs, described as a con artist who has been largely absent from her life
• The show: Season 1 followed Aggie, a struggling writer whose new neighbour, played by Matthew Rhys, was a suspected murderer. Rhys won this year’s Emmy for lead actor in a limited or anthology series
• Who’s making it: Howard Gordon and Daniel Pearle are co-showrunners, and Gabe Rotter created the series. Danes returns and executive produces
• UK availability: Season 1 is streaming on Netflix in the UK; season 2 date not yet confirmed

Watch the season 1 trailer

Goodman can be the warmest man in the room or the most frightening, sometimes in the same scene, which makes him ideal casting for a father who may not be what he seems. It is a strong sign that the second season is not just going through the motions.

Swedish-set techno-horror Modem heads to the American Film Market

• What happened: Alliance Media Partners has taken on worldwide sales for Modem ahead of the American Film Market, Deadline reported
• The story: A family digital detox in a house in a Swedish forest turns to terror when a teenager fires up an old modem and wakes a sadistic demon that stalks them through their devices. When their two-year-old vanishes, fear spirals into paranoia
• Who’s making it: The feature debut of writer-director Tim James Brown, starring Josh Burdett, Amanda Renberg and Nika Tallroth. “You can’t see it – it sees you,” Brown said
• UK availability: It has screened at London’s Raindance festival; UK release not yet confirmed

Haunted technology is as old as Ringu, but the irony of a demon in the dial-up during a weekend offline is a good hook. It is one to watch for as the market deals roll in.

Are you pleased to see Katniss back, and should Margot Robbie play Harley Quinn again? Tell us below.

Back tomorrow with What to Watch Tonight at 7:30am and the Morning News at 8am.