The big double feature of the year we’ve all been talking about is rightfully “Dunesday”. On the weekend before Christmas, movie theaters are going to be crowded, full of people excited to see Avengers: Doomsday and Dune: Part 3. But hold up, did you know there’s actually another worthy double feature coming next Friday, November 20?
The Big YA Double Feature Coming Next Week
This one is for the YA readers! The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping is coming out on the same day as the premiere of Percy Jackson and the Olympians Season 3 on the 2026 TV schedule. For the former, you’ll have to go to the theaters, but the latter will be streaming for those with a Hulu or Disney+ subscription.
It’s kind of perfect because these are two book-to-screen adaptations based on series that are often discussed in the same circles since they’re both for the same audience and were first published in the 2000s. Sunrise on the Reaping is a prequel about Haymitch’s Hunger Games and Percy Jackson Season 3 adapts Rick Riordan’s third book in the Greek mythology-inspired fantasy series called The Titan’s Curse.
The first two episodes drop on Friday, making this double feature just over three hours. Dunesday, on the other hand, is going to be a much longer sit, considering both movies are expected to be around two and a half hours, bringing the double feature to over five hours.
But, Its Stars Can’t Agree On the Recommended Watch Order
While this double feature is a bit more niche than Dunesday, its respective stars have been asked about it, but they haven’t come to a consensus on viewing order. Here’s what The Hunger Games’s Joseph Zada thinks about it:
I think you watch our film, and then to get happy again, you watch a little bit of Percy.
See, I think this might be the way to go because if you’ve read Sunrise on the Reaping, you know it’s tragic and emotional. Whereas I don’t expect the first two episodes of Percy Jackson Season 3 to take too much out of me. But Walker Scobell (aka Percy Jackson) had different thoughts when he also spoke to Entertainment Weekly:
In my opinion you should watch the first episodes of Percy before you watch The Hunger Games. The sad parts of Percy don’t come until a little bit later in the season, and then I already know the sad parts of Hunger Games are just going to be there the whole time.
I guess he’s thinking you should start your day with some lighter fare and go downhill from there? Sunrise on the Reaping’s Whitney Peak also thinks fans will need some “levity” after the latest Hunger Games movies, but ultimately she had these thoughts:
There’s no wrong answer. Just see them both.
As a huge fan of both these franchises, I honestly didn’t realize this double feature existed either, but now I’m excited. I’m going to fully feel like I'm back in my middle school library on November 20, and I can’t wait.
