Francis Lawrence To Direct Catching Fire?

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We saw Hunger Games and loved it, now we can’t wait for the next film Catching Fire which will come out late next year. And for those of us who can’t wait to find out more, we just got the scoop that Francis Lawrence will direct the film and Lionsgate confirmed the news.Here is the brief report from The Hob:

Sources say that Lawrence will receive an official offer this afternoon. If he accepts and a deal can be worked out, he will replace Gary Ross, who directed the first installment of the hugely successful franchise.

The hunt had been a fast and furious one, with the field narrowing down to Lawrence, the director of I Am Legend and Water for Elephants, and Bennett Miller, the director of the acclaimed Brad Pitt baseball movie Moneyball. Both directors met with the studio today, according to sources, and Lionsgate executives have made their pick.

Lawrence was deemed the front-runner by observers simply because of his open schedule. Miller is working his way to a December start for Foxcatcher, a true-life project centering John Du Pont that has been his focus for several years. Miller has even lined up Steve Carell, Channing Tatum and Mark Ruffallo for the drama and pushing it would have been a Herculean task

… One question that Lawrence’s hiring raises is that of the shape of the screenplay. Ross, who is a writer as much as he is a director, worked on the Hunger Games script and was planning on spending two months honing Fire, working on a script previously penned bySimon Beaufoy. The producers and new director can keep working with Beaufoy or hire new scribes to hammer out words.

What do you think? Do you think Francis Lawrence will make a great director, perhaps a better director than Gary Ross from the Hunger Games? Tell us your opinion!

Article source from The Hob