'Game Change' Writer Danny Strong To Script 'The Hunger Games: Mockingjay'

Briefly: The second Hunger Games film, Catching Fire, has just been shooting in and around Atlanta, but Lionsgate is already thinking forward to the next two films in the series which will adapt the third novel as two films. The first stage of the process in getting Mockingjay to work as a two-parter is scripting, and the studio has tapped Danny Strong to write the screenplay. Strong had good headlines recently when he won two Emmys for producing and writing the HBO Sarah Palin movie Game Change and he wrote The Butler for Lee Daniels.

I won't post the full synopsis of Mockingjay for fear of the people who are afraid of spoilers, but suffice to say it involves the continuing story of Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) and her tense relationship with the powers that be in The Capitol who try to keep weary citizens under control through the Hunger Games. The first part of Mockingjay will hit on November 21, 2014, while the second will open on November 20, 2015. Francis Lawrence is directing Catching Fire, but we don't yet know if he'll continue on with the series. [Variety]