The Hollywood Reporter has broken the news that Francis Lawrence has been offered the opportunity to take over directorial duties on THE HUNGER GAMES sequel CATCHING FIRE. After the director of the incredibly successful first film, Gary Ross, was unable to commit to the follow up, the hunt was on for a new director to take the helm. Various names were thrown into the hat (read about the candidates here) but it would appear Lionsgate have finally found their man in Lawrence whose previous works include I AM LEGEND and CONSTANTINE.

The article also states:

Lawrence’s selection raises the question of the state of the Catching Fire screenplay. Ross, who is a writer as much as he is a director, worked on the Hunger Games script and was planning on spending two months honing Fire, working from a script penned by Simon Beaufoy (Slumdog Millionaire). The producers and the new director now will need to keep working with Beaufoy or hire new scribes to hammer out the script before shooting begins.

The moviemakers are facing a ticking clock, especially since Lionsgate has set a Nov. 22, 2013, release date for Catching Fire, the second of four planned movies based on Suzanne Collins‘ trilogy of books. Also coming into play is that shooing for Fire likely needs to be done by early January so that star Jennifer Lawrence, who is not related to the Austria-born director, can begin shooting the sequel to X-Men: First Class in late January. Fox, which is making that movie, has an option on the actress that supersedes her Lionsgate commitment.

You can read the full article here.

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