Deadline reports that Lionsgate's The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping has hit box office tracking with a floor of $60 million-plus in the U.S., and that rival studios are betting the three-day opening goes substantially higher, possibly north of $70 million.

The film, directed by franchise veteran Francis Lawrence, arrives in cinemas on November 20.

A start in that range would mark a clear upward turn for the sixth film in the series: the previous chapter, The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, bowed to $44.6 million stateside before legging out to $166.3 million domestic and $394 million worldwide, according to Deadline.

The projections stand out because Songbirds & Snakes faced real headwinds that this film does not, per Deadline's account: that Suzanne Collins adaptation dealt with slower book sales during its Covid-era release and opened just after the 2023 Actors Strike ended.

This time, the drum roll is much louder — Deadline notes a recent London fan event with the cast and an L.A. event next week.

As further evidence of demand, Deadline reports the prequel's trailer racked up 109 million views in its first 24 hours, the second most watched trailer ever for a Lionsgate movie behind Michael.

Deadline says the film's first-choice score is higher than Wicked ($112.5M), Michael ($97.2M) and The Devil Wears Prada 2 ($76.7M), and on par with Beetlejuice Beetlejuice ($111M).

Interest skews female but men under 25 are close behind, with women under 25 on par with Wicked and roughly 40% above Songbirds & Snakes.

Reported cameos by original stars Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson add halo appeal, and the cast includes Ralph Fiennes, Glenn Close, Kieran Culkin and Elle Fanning, who stars as a young Effie-adjacent figure on a press tour Vogue describes as already theatrical.

The stakes extend beyond one opening. Deadline frames Lionsgate as positioned to be the saviors of the Thanksgiving box office, much as its Michael release ignited early summer with $97.2M U.S. and $218.8M worldwide.

The bar is high: Deadline notes 2024's five-day Thanksgiving stretch set a record with $424.9M and last year's $292.8M was the fourth best ever, powered by Wicked, Moana 2, Zootopia 2 and their sequels.

The franchise pedigree is deep — five novels sold over 100 million copies in 52 languages, films grossing over $3.4 billion, and the Reaping novel's 1.5 million first-week copies, per Deadline.

Meanwhile Vogue chronicled Elle Fanning's press-tour fashion, from a Robert Wun music-box-ballerina couture look with a moving hat at the London premiere to a custom Valentino butterfly-adorned skirt suit by Alessandro Michele at the photocall, keeping the film in the style conversation until November 20.