Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping Goes 3D as Lionsgate and Meta Bring Panem to Cinemas and VR Glasses

The Hunger Games is going 3D in a way no major franchise has tried before. Meta and Lionsgate announced on November 2 that they have partnered to bring The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping to theatres in 3D, and later to Meta VR Glasses when they reach shelves in spring 2027. It is the first time Meta has partnered with a Hollywood studio to convert a feature film into 3D to support its theatrical release, and the conversion was carried out with DNEG, the Oscar-winning stereo 3D studio, alongside director Francis Lawrence, who has directed the last five Hunger Games films.

The film arrives in theatres on November 20, 2026, with advance tickets to experience it in 3D already on sale, and early-access screenings in premium large formats begin on November 18. It is also the franchise’s first film branded Filmed for IMAX, with more than 45 minutes playing in the expanded 1.90:1 aspect ratio and a total running time of 158 minutes. From spring 2027, the same 3D version will be watchable on Meta’s VR glasses, a device reported to weigh about 100 grams and cost $1,299.99.

Set 24 years before The Hunger Games, on the morning of the reaping for the 50th Hunger Games — the Second Quarter Quell, in which the Capitol doubled the tributes from 24 to 48 — it follows sixteen-year-old Haymitch Abernathy, played by Joseph Zada, into the arena. Whitney Peak plays Lenore Dove Baird and McKenna Grace plays Maysilee Donner, with Ralph Fiennes as President Snow, Elle Fanning as Effie Trinket, Kieran Culkin as Caesar Flickerman and Jesse Plemons as Plutarch Heavensbee. The five previous Hunger Games films have earned more than $3.3 billion worldwide. Read our report on the film sharing its November 20 date with Godzilla Minus Zero in India here: https://filmverse.in/godzilla-minus-zero-india-release-november-20-ramayana-imax/

Here is the Filmverse take: this is less a format gimmick than a distribution experiment, and the order of it matters — cinemas first, glasses second, so the theatrical release is not being sacrificed to sell hardware. For Lionsgate, 3D gives the November 20 release a premium reason to be seen on the biggest screens. For Meta, it is a test of whether a tech company can become a film partner rather than just a platform, with a beloved franchise as the trial. If audiences pay for 3D in theatres and then on glasses at home, every studio will want the same deal.

Sources: Meta, Deadline via ComingSoon and SoapCentral, ComicBasics.