Back in July, Lionsgate announced that they will be splitting the final novel in Suzanne Collins'
The Hunger Games trilogy,
Mockingjay, into two films (a la
Harry Potter and
Twilight). The first film was a big success with both critics and audiences, so the news that the studio were moving ahead with adapting the rest of the series was unsurprising. Afterwards, it was reported that director Francis Lawrence - who is currently shooting the
Catching Fire adaptation for the studio - was unlikely to return to helm either parts of
Mockingjay, due to the tight production schedules in between films (something that caused Gary Ross to drop out of
Catching Fire after directing the first
Hunger Games). Now,
Collider reports that Lawrence has been hired to direct both parts of
The Hunger Games finale, which has writer Danny Strong working on the script. Many of the cast members from the first film (including Jennifer Lawrence, Liam Hemsworth and Josh Hutcherson) are signed on to reprise their respective roles in the sequels.
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1 is set to hit theaters November 21st, 2014;
Part 2 is scheduled for a November 20th, 2015 release.