After the incredible collaborative experience Lionsgate and author Suzanne Collins had with Gary Ross during The Hunger Games, it was pretty clear their intention was for him to stick around for the long haul. So when the director skipped out to pursue other avenues, there was understandably a bit of panic, aided no doubt by all the wild speculation about who might take over. In the end, it was Francis Lawrence who won the job directing the sequel, Catching Fire, and things must be going pretty well as he'll be around for awhile.
According to Collider, Lawrence has signed on to direct the final chapters of the saga, Mockingjay, which has been split up into two parts. Apparently not having any trouble with the compressed schedule, which factored into Ross's departure in the first place, Lawrence will jump immediately from Catching Fire into prepping for Mockingjay. There had been some speculation that they might pull a Harry Potter and have different directors for each film, but decided to have a singular vision the rest of the way. Probably a good idea for all involved.
Catching Fire opens on November 22nd 2013. Mockingjay part 1 arrives on November 21st 2014, and part 2 on November 20th 2015.
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