The author of the popular book trilogy and franchise, The Hunger Games, has announced a prequel novel is set to be released on 19 May, 2020 - but without its central heroine, Katniss Everdeen.
Scholastic announced that the currently untitled prequel by author Suzanne Collins will be set 64 years before the events of the first installment, published in 2008.
Collins says the next novel will explore the fictional world of Panem a decade after the titular Hunger Games were introduced into the dystopian society.
This next chapter in The Hunger Games series will be available to the public almost ten years after the last novel, Mockingjay, was published.
A hugely successful movie franchise followed Collins' original trilogy, starring Jennifer Lawrence, Liam Hemsworth, Josh Hutcherson and Woody Harrelson. The final film, Mockingjay Part 2, made US$653 million at the box office.
The four films, beginning with the titular The Hunger Games in 2012, made close to US$3 billion (NZ$4.6 billion) at the box office. Catching Fire followed in 2013, before the two-part Mockinjay in 2014 and 2015.
Entertainment company Lionsgate, who distributed the film series, are reportedly planning a new film adaptation to accompany the prequel, Forbes reports.
"We've been communicating with [Collins] during the writing process," Lionsgate Motion Picture Group chairman, Joe Drake, told the Hollywood Reporter.
"We look forward to continuing to work closely with her on the movie."
The company's official Twitter account retweeted an announcement of the upcoming prequel novel, saying: "May the odds be ever in your favor.
"We can hardly wait for Suzanne's next book to be published!"
Newshub.
