HUNGER GAMES Sequel CATCHES FIRE with Beaufoy?

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The Hunger Games hasn’t even hit the big screen yet but Lionsgate is already looking ahead at the sequel, Catching Fire, and they want to pull out the big guns by bringing on Oscar-winning writer Simon Beaufoy to pen the script.

Beaufoy, who snagged an Oscar for Slumdog Millionaire, is the man of the hour as Lionsgate looks towards him to bring the second installment of The Hunger Games story to life, according to Deadline. Negotiations haven’t started yet but the studio “is pushing hard” to get Beaufoy to join the potentially massive franchise.

Hunger Games director Gary Ross will be back for Catching Fire but the post-production schedule for the first film has caused him to nix plans to write up a script with author Suzanne Collins. Ross and Collins collaborated on The Hunger Games so it could be interesting to see if the tone of the franchise changes with a new guy picking up the pen.

I usually have to shake my head when a studio starts planning on a sequel when the first film hasn’t even opened yet but the response for the first Hunger Games trailer was overwhelming so planning ahead probably isn’t a bad idea in this case. Without a doubt, The Hunger Games will make enough cash to justify a sequel so the studio isn’t risking anything at this point in time.

There’s currently no start date for production on Catching Fire, but Lionsgate considers the film to be “high priority,” so I think there’s a good chance the script will be in the works before The Hunger Games hits theaters on March 23, 2012, and I would be shocked if the studio doesn’t push to get the second film out for 2013.