Nina Jacobson Says She Was ‘Wrecked’ After Reading ‘Sunrise on the Reaping’

Long before cameras rolled on the newest installment, the manuscript alone was enough to leave its producer shaken. Jacobson's account offers fans a glimpse of the emotional weight awaiting them when the film hits theaters.

Nina Jacobson is opening up about her first reaction to reading "The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping" novel, a prequel to the cult classic "Hunger Games" book series that is now being adapted into a film.

Speaking with People ahead of the release of the upcoming adaptation of Suzanne Collins' fifth novel set in the world of Panem, Jacobson revealed that she had "a hint" the book was coming, though, as she said, "We weren't expecting it anytime soon."

She described the moment she finally got her hands on it. "And then we get the call, go to her agent's house, there's one copy of the book, a manuscript. You go, and you have your sittings, and you sit down, and you read it," she recalled.

"And I sat it down and devoured it, and I was destroyed by it," Jacobson said, adding that the experience left her "utterly wrecked."

Jacobson produces the upcoming film, slated for theatrical release on November 20. It marks the sixth franchise entry she has worked on, following her role as producer on all five previous installments, most recently 2023's "The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes."

Reflecting further on the novel, she praised how it fit into the larger story Collins has built. "There was so much that made me really appreciate the order of the books that she had done," Jacobson added, pointing to the added depth the prequel brings to Beetee and Plutarch's arcs.

The producer also spoke about the emotional resonance of learning more about the resistance movement that predates Katniss Everdeen's involvement.

"And the emotion for me when I finished the book of understanding for the people in the resistance who are surrounding and behind and working with Katniss from 'Catching Fire' on, that they have been at it until she comes along," Jacobson explained.

She continued, highlighting the sacrifices made by those who came before Katniss. "They have been resisting and losing for 24 years and made so many sacrifices, lost so many times, but yet they kept going," Jacobson noted.

Director Francis Lawrence, meanwhile, shared that the novel reframed his understanding of Haymitch Abernathy entirely.

Audiences previously knew the character as the perpetually drunk District 12 victor who mentors Katniss and Peeta through the 74th and 75th Hunger Games ahead of the revolution depicted in "Mockingjay."

But "Sunrise on the Reaping" reveals the young man Haymitch was before the games that secured him a place in the Victor's Village.

"It both surprised me and didn't surprise me to just see how young and youthful and optimistic and hopeful he was," Lawrence said.

Jacobson echoed that sentiment, describing Haymitch's youthful mindset before his life changed forever.

"I think [Haymitch is] just a very relatable young guy who's like, 'I've got a girl I love. I've got a family I love,'" she added. "When his mom says to fill the cistern, he just assumes he's not going to go to the Hunger Games. He's an optimist."

She went on to describe how that same hopeful naivety shaped his choices: "In order to hold onto that little sense of peace around him, willing, as Lenore Dove brings up to him, to just go along with it and to assume that there's nothing he can do about it. And so I think that was really striking to see."