Hunger Games prequel to get a 3D version for Meta's VR glasses

Meta and Lionsgate are turning The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping into a 3D film, and the converted version will play on Meta's $1,299 VR glasses, Variety reported on Monday.

The film was shot in 2D, the flat format most films are made in. Converting it means adding depth to each frame so it looks three-dimensional. DNEG, the visual effects company, worked with Meta and Lionsgate on the conversion. Variety describes it as Meta's first 3D conversion project with a film studio.

The glasses are Meta's headset, which fits over the eyes and shows video that surrounds the viewer. Meta unveiled them at its Meta Connect event in September. They are scheduled for release in the spring, and the 3D version of the film will be available on them. Meta's price for the glasses is $1,299.

The film itself opens in cinemas on November 20, 2026. Lionsgate says it will be released in theatres and IMAX, and that it will be presented in RealD 3D, a 3D system used in many cinemas. Those cinema releases are separate from the headset version. The studio has not said whether the headset version will arrive on the same date.

Francis Lawrence directed the film, which is the latest in the franchise based on Suzanne Collins's novels. Joseph Zada plays Haymitch Abernathy, and Mckenna Grace plays Maysilee Donner, according to Lionsgate's publicity materials. Lionsgate first announced in June 2024 that it would adapt Collins's novel Sunrise on the Reaping into a major motion picture.

For fans, the November date is the one to circle. The headset version is months away, and the cinema run comes first. Anyone who wants to see the 3D cut on Meta's glasses will have to wait until spring.