Exhibition · AU
Sunrise on the Reaping Gets 45 Minutes of Expanded IMAX, the Franchise's First Filmed for IMAX Release
IMAX has confirmed the 1.90:1 expanded ratio runs for more than 45 minutes, the arena opens up Catching Fire style, and IMAX Melbourne already has a 18 November preview on sale.
The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping will play more than 45 minutes of its running time in IMAX’s expanded 1.90:1 aspect ratio, IMAX has confirmed, and the picture opens up the moment the tributes rise into the arena. It is the first film in the franchise to carry the Filmed for IMAX certification.
The details come from the film’s page on IMAX.com, which now describes “over forty-five minutes of IMAX’s exclusive 1.90:1 Expanded Aspect Ratio”, sound mixed for IMAX systems, and Francis Lawrence working “closely with IMAX” on the presentation. Cinematographer Jo Willems had already told Entertainment Weekly on 14 October where the expansion lands.
“It’s gonna have the full IMAX screen where you’re more immersed in the whole thing. We shot on IMAX cameras, but it’s not like we shot on IMAX film cameras. These are approved IMAX cameras that are shooting at a high resolution. So the size of the sensor can have a taller aspect ratio.”
Jo Willems, to Entertainment Weekly
For Australian fans the practical news is that IMAX previews are already bookable. IMAX Melbourne has a 6pm session on Wednesday 18 November that has been on sale since 6 October, and Event Cinemas is running IMAX sessions at Darling Harbour that night as part of its Cinebuzz “Chicks Pick” preview, at $40 for members. The film opens nationally on Thursday 19 November, a day before the United States.
The Catching Fire moment, on different cameras
Anyone who saw Catching Fire in IMAX in 2013 will remember the arena entrance: Katniss rising through the tube, the letterboxed image suddenly filling the whole screen, the sound opening up with it. Lawrence shot those sequences on IMAX 15/70 film cameras, and in the handful of cinemas built for it, including the museum screen in Carlton, the frame went to the full 1.43:1.
Sunrise repeats the beat but not the hardware. Willems is clear that the production used IMAX-certified digital cameras, the category that covers the ARRI Alexa 65 and its successors, rather than film. That is why IMAX is describing a 1.90:1 expansion, which is the ratio every IMAX auditorium in Australia can show, and why this counts as the franchise’s first Filmed for IMAX title. The certification programme only started in 2020, which is also why Catching Fire doesn’t carry it despite having gone further on the ratio.
In plain terms: the reaping, the train, the Capitol and the interviews will play in widescreen, and the Games will take over the full screen. Forty-five minutes is roughly the arena, give or take whatever else Lawrence chose to expand, and the runtime is 158 minutes, so a little under a third of the film plays tall.
IMAX Melbourne’s listing says the film “will be presented in IMAX 4K Laser Digital”, which rules out the building’s 15/70 film projector and matches a 1.90:1 master. In August the venue told us the ratio was still with IMAX Corp. It no longer is.
Willems also told EW that colour was “definitely something that we wanted to push” this time, and that the arena was shot in a remote valley in Spain’s Cantabrian Mountains, reached each day through small villages on a dirt road about ten feet wide. He singled out the night scene with the squirrels as “quite complex” to light in that space. Readers of the book will know the chapter.
The IMAX cut is six seconds shorter
The British Board of Film Classification passed the IMAX version separately on 21 October at 157 minutes 59 seconds, against 158 minutes 5 seconds for the standard print. The difference is almost certainly the IMAX countdown and logo replacing the usual Lionsgate bumper rather than any missing footage, but it does confirm a distinct IMAX print was finished before the London fan screening on 28 October.
Australia’s Classification Board still hasn’t rated either version. Hoyts and Palace are showing a 150-minute placeholder on their listings; the real figure is 158.
Where to see it in IMAX in Australia
Australia had one IMAX screen in 2022 and has ten now, after six openings last year and a record $18.6 million IMAX box office. Hoyts’ April agreement with IMAX adds at least three more before the end of 2026, though none has been named.
| Screen | Operator | Sunrise status at 25 October |
|---|---|---|
| IMAX Melbourne, Carlton | Museums Victoria | Opens 19 Nov in IMAX 4K Laser Digital. Preview Wed 18 Nov, 6pm, on sale now. General pricing not yet set |
| IMAX Sydney, Darling Harbour | Event Cinemas | Chicks Pick preview Wed 18 Nov, $40 Cinebuzz member IMAX package |
| Hoyts Melbourne Central | Hoyts | Listed, no IMAX sessions on sale |
| Hoyts Chadstone | Hoyts | Listed, no IMAX sessions on sale |
| Hoyts Blacktown | Hoyts | Listed, no IMAX sessions on sale |
| Hoyts Carousel, Perth | Hoyts | Listed, no IMAX sessions on sale |
| Village Fountain Gate | Village | Not yet listed |
| Event Pacific Fair, Gold Coast | Event Cinemas | Eligible for the Chicks Pick preview |
| Dendy Canberra | Dendy | Not yet listed |
With the ratio settled at 1.90:1, the museum screen’s advantage over the newer Hoyts and Event rooms comes down to size rather than framing: 32 metres wide, 461 seats, and still the biggest room in the country for this. Every other IMAX site shows the same expanded picture, just smaller.
A note on Event’s fine print. The $40 IMAX package currently reads “one Adult V-MAX admit” in its terms, which is a copy error on their page. The IMAX sessions are what’s listed and what you’ll be booking.
General IMAX sessions from 19 November are not on sale anywhere in Australia yet, and the US hasn’t opened presales either. Avengers: Doomsday takes over IMAX screens nationally from mid-December, so the first two weekends are the safe ones if the big screen is the version you want. When tickets move, our Sunrise on the Reaping hub will carry booking links for every site above.
The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping is directed by Francis Lawrence from a screenplay by Billy Ray and Michael Lesslie, based on the novel by Suzanne Collins, and produced by Nina Jacobson, Brad Simpson and Lawrence. It stars Joseph Zada, Whitney Peak, Mckenna Grace, Jesse Plemons, Elle Fanning, Maya Hawke, Kieran Culkin, Glenn Close and Ralph Fiennes. In Australian cinemas and IMAX 19 November 2026 through Roadshow Films.
Sources: IMAX.com film page · Entertainment Weekly, Jo Willems interview, 14 October 2026 (via Yahoo syndication) · IMAX Melbourne listing and 18 November preview listing · Event Cinemas, Chicks Pick advance screening · Hoyts · BBFC · IMAX / Hoyts partnership release, 29 April 2026 · Our August report
