Catching Fire
The next chapter in the Suzanne Collins book series begins filming in July. Gary Ross is back as director, but this time out the script will be written by Simon Beaufoy (Slumdog Millionaire). The big three, Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss, Josh Hutcherson as Peeta and Liam Hemsworth as Gale, are all signed for the entire series. No release date has been set, but if we were to bet… we’d say this time, next year.

The Cast
Jennifer Lawrence will next be seen in House at the End of the Street. The horror flick lands in February. We know there will be a sequel to X-Men: First Class, but what form the actress’ participation will take is yet to be determined. She is also signed on to The Silver Linings Playbook, due later this year.

Josh Hutcherson, after scoring in Journey 2: The Mysterious Island with Dwayne Johnson, will be filming the sequel Journey 3 at some point in the future. He is also due to be seen in the remake of Red Dawn, where he plays Robert. Look for Red Dawn November 2.

Liam Hemsworth has completed filming The Expendables 2, due this August, as well as AWOL, which lists its release date as “sometime in 2012.” He is also cast in Empire State opposite Dwayne Johnson. Hutcherson and Hemsworth can talk about working with Johnson while they film Catching Fire this summer.

The Hunger Games Box Office
People compare the series to The Twilight Saga and we can see that. But, where the Stephenie Meyer series appealed to a specific fan base, The Hunger Games has a fanatic group that is represented by all ages and gender. In Movie Fanatic’s opinion, we think the film has the potential to double what Twilight movies make. In fact, that may be too conservative of a guess. The story of Katniss and her Hunger Games adventure could be on its way to joining the billion dollar movie club.