News that director Francis Lawrence will stick around for the adaptation of Mockingjay, the last installment of Suzanne Collins’ wildly popular The Hunger Games franchise, comes to us courtesy of Screen Rant.
Lionsgate, the studio in charge, has decided that it likes Lawrence’s approach on the currently in-development second title, Catching Fire, enough to sign him on for the two-part finale. By doing so the studio has shown great confidence in the I Am Legend director’s vision for the dystopian world of Panem.
The enormously successful franchise returns stars Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Elizabeth Banks, Woody Harrellson, Donald Sutherland, and Lenny Kravitz as well as adding new faces Phillip Seymour-Hoffman, Jena Malone, and Sam Claflin. The next two installments document heroine Katniss Everdeen post-Hunger Games as she leads the districts of Panem in revolt against the oppressive and corrupt Capitol.
We’ll see if Lawrence can recreate the magic Gary Ross had when The Hunger Games opened to the largest ever opening weekend back in March. That film would ultimately go on to gross over $680 million worldwide to become one of the most financially successful movies of all-time.
Stay tuned to see if lightning strikes twice when Catching Fire opens November 22nd, 2013.