Sequel Bits: 'The Hunger Games: Catching Fire', 'Sin City 2', 'Kung Fu Panda 3', 'Super Troopers 2', 'Expendables 2', 'Back To The Future'

Today's Sequel Bits is full of fighters, whether they be well-meaning brutes, cuddly panda bears, starving teenagers, or '80s action stars. After the jump:

To put things in perspective, though, even Lawrence may fall short of the deal the Twilight trio got for their second film New Moon. After earning $2 million each for the first installment, they secured $12 million each for the second; for Breaking Dawn they're pulling in at least $25 million each. Maybe keep that in mind when Mockingjay talks roll around, District 12ers! [THR]

With an October 4, 2013 release date already on the calendar, Robert Rodriguez should be getting the pieces together for Sin City 2 pretty soon. And it sounds like he's starting with a familiarly unfamiliar face from the first film. Mickey Rourke, who was almost unrecognizable in his prosthetics-heavy role as bruiser Marv, is in talks to reprise that role for the upcoming sequel. While an earlier press release claimed that Rourke was already "confirmed" for the part, Deadline reports that he's only now negotiating a deal.

But wait, you may be asking. Didn't he die in the first movie? Well, yes. However, as Variety's Jeff Sneider points out, Sin City 2 will be based on Frank Miller's limited series A Dame to Kill For — which takes place before the events of the last Sin City movie.

The term "Chinese co-production" has been coming up a lot in movie news the past couple of years, as projects like Iron Man 3, Looper, and The Expendables 2 have looked outside the U.S. for financing. Now DreamWorks Animation's Kung Fu Panda 3 is set to follow the trend, becoming the first major Hollywood animated feature to do so. The film will be made in China by the recently launched Oriental DreamWorks, which is based in Shanghai.

Whereas some films have had to do a bit of creative rearranging to work international appeal into their stories (ahem, Looper), the Kung Fu Panda series is already set in China so the deal seems to make a fair amount of sense. Kung Fu Panda 3 is expected to hit in 2017. [LA Times]

Last weekend's The Babymakers wasn't quite a Broken Lizard film, but the comedy troupe's getting ready to reunite for a pair of new features. Asked by a Film Drunk reader during an online Q&A session whether Super Troopers 2 and Potfest were "really in the works," Jay Chandrasekhar simply responded, "Yes. And yes."

The team has been saying as much for some time meow, but Kevin Heffernan also had an optimistic timeline to offer. "Super Troopers 2 is written. Waiting on some negotiation issues to get worked out," he said. "Hope to shoot later this year!!!"

Look, no one's ever going to mistake The Expendables 2 for Citizen Kane Vertigo — but sometimes, you're just in the mood to turn off your brain for a couple of hours and watch some deafening big-ass explosions. On that front, the Sylvester Stallone-starring picture is bound to deliver. A new clip from the action-packed, star-studded sequel shows a motorcycle colliding into a helicopter, which seems about right.

Deeply silly? Yes. Kind of awesome? Also yes. The Expendables hits August 17. [MTV]

Considering the sheer number of '80s- and '90s-based remakes, reboots, et cetera in the works right now, it's a little surprising that the beloved Back to the Future series has remained untouched so far. And if executive producer Frank Marshall has anything to say about it, it'll stay that way.

Asked whether there was a new Back to the Future movie in the works in any form, the legendary producer responded in the negative:

We never talked about it. Those three movies stand alone. I'm so thrilled that [director Robert] Zemeckis is back in the live-action world. When you look at those movies, they're stunningly made. The direction and the writing in those movies, and Michael J. Fox; it's just fabulous. I'm a huge fan of just having those three movies just be as they are, and not try to do anything else.

And "just as they are" in this case includes its 2D format. Marshall confirmed that he had no desire to see the movie upconverted for a 3D reissue a la Jurassic Park. "No, I kind of like it the way it is," he said. "I say let's leave things as they are. Let's leave it the way we made it then with the technology we had." Go ahead, breathe a sigh of relief. Then head to Collider to read the rest of the interview.