Disney fired Nina Jacobson by phone in 2006 while her partner was giving birth. Now Suzanne Collins’ rare letter about Sunrise on the Reaping credits her for keeping the Hunger Games movies faithful.
One of the biggest movie franchises of the last 15 years started with a very bad day at Disney.
In July 2006, Disney fired Nina Jacobson, then president of its Buena Vista Motion Picture Group, over the phone while she was at the hospital for the birth of her third child. Three years later, she won the film rights to The Hunger Games. The movies have since earned $3.3 billion at the box office.
Jacobson is back in the spotlight this week thanks to Suzanne Collins. The famously private author released a rare letter to fans on Friday, Nov. 13, ahead of The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping, and she singled out Jacobson as one of the reasons the movies worked.
How did Disney fire Nina Jacobson?
On July 17, 2006, Jacobson was at the hospital, where her partner, Jen Bleakley, was in labor with their third child. Her father was also in intensive care that day, Fortune reported in 2012.
Studio chairman Dick Cook called and asked if she could come in. Jacobson told him she could not.
She had already seen rumors of management changes in the trade press, so she asked him directly whether she was being fired. The answer was yes.
Jacobson later told NPR that Cook clearly did not want to fire her over the phone, but she pushed for an answer. She said she had to compartmentalize it and treat it as just work.
The firing was part of a major studio restructuring that cut about 650 jobs. Disney replaced Jacobson with Oren Aviv, the studio’s marketing chief.
What did Nina Jacobson do at Disney?
Jacobson joined Disney in 1998 to develop scripts and oversee film production. She became one of the most powerful women in Hollywood.
She worked closely with M. Night Shyamalan on The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable, Signs and The Village. She was also at the studio during the early success of Pirates of the Caribbean.
After the firing, Disney offered her a production deal. She turned it down, saying she did not want to work for the people who had just fired her.
How did Nina Jacobson get The Hunger Games?
Jacobson started her own company, Color Force, in 2007. It was only about two years old when the film rights to The Hunger Games went up for grabs in 2009.
Jacobson won Collins over. In her new letter, Collins writes that Jacobson optioned the trilogy in 2009 and “was committed to developing a faithful version of the series.”
Lionsgate released the first Hunger Games movie in 2012. Jacobson has produced every film in the series since, now alongside her Color Force partner Brad Simpson.
What did Suzanne Collins say in her letter?
Collins rarely speaks publicly, and she has skipped the press tour for Sunrise on the Reaping. Lionsgate shared her letter on the film’s official social accounts one week before the movie opens.
In it, Collins says the movie is a devastating adaptation that stays true to her book. She praised star Joseph Zada, who plays young Haymitch Abernathy, and director Francis Lawrence, who has directed every Hunger Games movie since Catching Fire and is also one of the producers.
She also thanked screenwriter Billy Ray, who helped adapt the first film, and singer Noah Kahan, who wrote the original song “Draw You Out” for the movie. Collins signed off with a franchise favorite: May the odds be ever in your favor.
When does The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping come out?
The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping opens in theaters on Friday, Nov. 20. It premiered in London on Oct. 28.
The prequel is set 24 years before the first Hunger Games. It follows 16-year-old Haymitch on the morning of the reaping for the 50th Hunger Games, the Second Quarter Quell, when twice the usual number of tributes are sent into the arena.
Where can you watch the Hunger Games movies?
In a twist Disney fans will appreciate, all five earlier Hunger Games movies are now streaming on Disney+, as of Oct. 1. That means the franchise built by the executive Disney let go is now part of Disney’s own streaming lineup.
It is a good time for a rewatch before Sunrise on the Reaping hits theaters next week.
Article compiled and written by Kambrea Pratt (editor-in-chief), Derek Gibbs (beat editor) and the Pirates & Princesses newsroom. Pirates & Princesses is part of WebReef Media.
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Hat Tips:
Aakash Gupta on X (Nov. 14, 2026), the tip
Fortune (March 23, 2012), the details of the 2006 firing call
Los Angeles Business Journal (July 2006), the restructuring and 650 job cuts
NPR (2016), Jacobson’s account of the firing
Trevor Decker News (Nov. 13, 2026), Collins’ letter and her comments on Jacobson
CBR (Nov. 13, 2026), Collins’ praise for the film and cast
Wikipedia (2026), the Sunrise on the Reaping premiere and Jacobson’s Disney career
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