OLIVIA MARNE
Rather than have to set aside more time to play meet-and-greet on behalf of a filmmaker and a large cast, Lionsgate has opted to keep “The Hunger Games : Catching Fire” director Francis Lawrence onboard for the next two movies in the series.
“Mockingjay”, the single book which is being adapted into two films by “Recount” writer (and former “Buffy” actor) Danny Strong, will see Lawrence (“Water for Elephants”) resume his position as director, Lionsgate announced earlier today.
Some speculated, since it’s a trendy thing to do on several other young people’s franchises, and the fact that Lawrence himself was a replacement for Gary Ross (who directed “Hunger Games”), that Lionsgate might continue to shake things up and bring in a new director for each film in the highly-successful movie series.
“Mockingjay Part 1” and “Mockingjay Part 2”, which concludes Katniss’s (Jennifer Lawrence) involvement in the titular competition at the center of the films, are scheduled to hit theaters on November 21, 2014, and November 20, 2015, respectively.
