With the first film’s full trailer hitting earlier this week and hopes high for a top-tier franchise, the producers of The Hunger Games are already eyeing the sequel, which will adapt Suzanne Collins’ second book, Catching Fire. Deadline reports that a new writer is likely to be brought into the mix and the studio’s current choice is Slumdog Millionaire scribe Simon Beaufoy.
Gary Ross, the director of the first film, wrote the screenplay with Collins, but it is suggested that his busy post-production schedule precludes him from following suit with Catching Fire. He is planning, however, to return as director.
Following Slumdog, Beaufoy re-teamed with director Danny Boyle for 127 Hours. His next work, Salmon Fishing in the Yemen, is being directed by Lasse Hallström and will hit theaters March 2, 2012.
It was reported last week that, to justify a sequel, the first film will have to gross over $100 million domestically, something that the studio has every confidence in.
Starring Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Wes Bentley, Elizabeth Banks, Stanley Tucci, Woody Harrelson, Lenny Kravitz and many more, The Hunger Games hits theaters on March 23, 2012.
