— by CHERRY BELL DAMASCO-FARRINGTON —
Lionsgate is gearing up for the sequel to “The Hunger Games” — called “Catching Fire” — by securing Simon Beaufoy (“Slumdog Millionaire” and “127 Hours”) as the screenwriter. Gary Ross will return as director.
In previous reports, it was said that Ross would return as an executive producer, but it seems Lionsgate has complete confidence in his vision of what “The Hunger Games” and the remaining two novels in the series will be. “Catching Fire” has not yet been given the green light, but it was announced in December that “Catching Fire” has secured a Nov. 22, 2013, release date.
Josh Hutcherson — who plays Peeta Mellark, one of the story’s main trio — talked with E! News at the People’s Choice Awards earlier this month about having signed on for the sequels and sayid the following:
- They want to wait and see how this comes out … and how much fans like it, and then hopefully we’re going to start on the next one next fall.
For those who are unfamiliar with the young adult novels by Suzanne Collins, there are three books in the series and it has already been rumored that there will be four movies all together, with the third book being split into two separate movies. Jennifer Lawrence (Katniss Everdeen), Liam Hemsworth (Gale Hawthorne) and Woody Harrelson (Haymitch Abernathy) are all expected to return for the sequels.
With the success of the book series worldwide, do you think that the films will be as wildly received by audiences?
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