Michael Arndt To Re-Write The Hunger Games Sequel 'Catching Fire'

The ink has barely dried on new director Francis Lawrence's signature, but now news is coming through from The Hollywood Reporter that Lionsgate is looking to a new writer to give the script to 'Hunger Games' sequel 'Catching Fire' a bit of a rewrite or two. Michael Arndt, the Oscar winning writer behind 'Little Miss Sunshine' and 'Toy Story 3' is in talks with Lionsgate execs to get to work on the high profile sequel, based on the second part of Suzanne Collins' incredibly successful trilogy. Simon Beaufoy, who won an Oscar himself for 'Slumdog Millionaire' wrote the initial drafts of the script. This is nothing new in the film world, as we've seen countless times before, studios like to bring in fresh meat to polish and rewrite screenplays on big tentpole movies before they go into production. 'Catching Fire' is driving towards a late summer production start date to cater to star Jennifer Lawrence's commitment to 20th Century Fox's 'X-Men: First Class' sequel, which means that if Arndt does sign on, then he will have to work double time to get the script into shape and make all the necessary changes to make that start date. Michael Arndt recently did some script work on Disney's 'Order of the Seven', an internationally themed action movie that 'Catching Fire' director Francis Lawrence was at one time attached to direct. Coincidence? Probably not. It's understandable that Lionsgate want to get 'Catching Fire' off the ground quickly to satisfy fans and also keep Jennifer Lawrence on side, but could this hurried production schedule mean that the overall quality of the finished product could suffer? Indeed according to the Hollywood Reporter, the tight production schedule was one of the factors that caused original director Gary Ross to depart the project. 'The Hunger Games' has so far grossed $600 million worldwide.