Last November we heard that Simon Beaufoy, the Oscar winning screenwriter of Slumdog Millionaire and 127 Hours, was the top contender to write the script for The Hunger Games sequel Catching Fire.

Now The Wrap has confirmed that Beaufoy has already started work on the script with supervision from Gary Ross, who will be returning to direct the next fim.

Lionsgate have already set a November 22, 2013 release date for the sequel, so if the first film is a success in March they could move forward with filming before the end of the year.

Below is the synopsis for Catching Fire, which contains potential spoilers so non-book readers beware.

Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark both survived the Hunger Games. Both returned home wanting and expecting a somewhat peaceful future. But the Capitol is angry. The Capitol wants revenge.

When rumors of a rebellion that she started reach Katniss’s ears, everything changes. Now, as Peeta and Katniss are forced to visit the districts on the mandatory Victory Tour, everything can and might go wrong—if Katniss and Peeta cannot pull off their act as two madly-in-love teenagers. If they fail, everything they’ve worked for will be gone.

You can watch the trailer for The Hunger Games, starring Jennifer Lawrence, Liam Hemsworth and Josh Hutcherson, below:

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Lionsgate have already set a November 22, 2013 release date for Catching Fire, the sequel to The Hunger Games which will move forward if the film makes over $100m at the US box office next March.

The company must be pretty confident of its chances, as according to Deadline Simon Beaufoy, the Oscar winning screenwriter of Slumdog Millionaire and 127 Hours, is the top contender to write the Catching Fire script.

The site also confirms director Gary Ross will return to direct the sequel:

He originally intended to write the outline for the second film and script it with author Suzanne Collins (they teamed to do a lot of writing on the first film), but the post production schedule on The Hunger Games has made that difficult. There is no start date on the sequel, but it is high priority. Negotiations haven’t begun yet, but Lionsgate is pushing hard for Beaufoy.

Below is the synopsis for Catching Fire, which contains potential spoilers so non-book readers beware.

Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark both survived the Hunger Games. Both returned home wanting and expecting a somewhat peaceful future. But the Capitol is angry. The Capitol wants revenge.

When rumors of a rebellion that she started reach Katniss’s ears, everything changes. Now, as Peeta and Katniss are forced to visit the districts on the mandatory Victory Tour, everything can and might go wrong—if Katniss and Peeta cannot pull off their act as two madly-in-love teenagers. If they fail, everything they’ve worked for will be gone.

You can watch the recently released trailer for The Hunger Games, starring Jennifer Lawrence, Liam Hemsworth and Josh Hutcherson, below:

Read similar posts to Simon Beaufoy may write Catching Fire on Filmonic

A few days ago AICN were sent a tip that said Simon Beaufoy, who recently won an Oscar for his Slumdog Millionaire screenplay, had been recruited to write the sequel to X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Well Entertainment Weekly managed to get in contact with his agent, who denied Beaufoy had the gig, although he did say producer Lauren Shuler Donner had spoken to him about Wolverine 2.

According to Beaufoy’s manager, Beaufoy was approached by Wolverine producer Lauren Shuler Donner to gauge the writer’s interest in W2, but no formal offer was made. A Fox source says that the two met at the Slumdog Oscar party and chatted about Wolverine there. Beaufoy, in any case, didn’t feel he was right for the project. Furthermore, Fox is saying that no Wolverine 2 project is actively being developed.

With 20th Century Fox marketing X-Men Origins: Wolverine like crazy, so it should earn enough to warrent a sequel. Jackman has hinted in interviews that he would be interested in heading to Japan next time round, however I don’t know where that would fit in the X-Men timeline as apparently X-Men Origins: Wolverine finishes off just before X1 begins.

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