Release Order Recommended
0 / 5 watchedThe order the films came out in theaters, Katniss first and the prequel after. This is how the studio paced the reveals and the recommended first watch.
The Hunger Games
Prequels
Chronological Order
0 / 5 watchedStory order by the year each film is set in. The prequel runs decades before Katniss is ever reaped, so it opens the list.
Prequels
The Hunger Games
About The Hunger Games
The Hunger Games splits into a four-film story about Katniss Everdeen and a newer prequel line. The first four films adapt Suzanne Collins' trilogy straight through, from the 74th Hunger Games to the end of the rebellion. The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes (2023) goes back decades to the 10th Hunger Games and follows a young Coriolanus Snow instead.
That leaves one real decision, where the prequel goes. Release order tells Katniss' story first and treats Snow's rise as a look back, and that is what I would pick for a first run. Chronological order opens with the prequel instead. It works on a rewatch, since Ballad was written to be understood cold, but it delays the story most people came for.
Good to know
Sunrise on the Reaping, the sixth film and second prequel, is dated for November 20, 2026 and is not listed above. It is set 24 years before The Hunger Games, so it slots after Ballad of Songbirds in story order. Ballad itself is set about 64 years before the first film, during the 10th Hunger Games. Mockingjay is one book split across two films, so line up Part 2 before you start Part 1.
