Francis Lawrence has officially be offered the gig of directing the sequel to Hunger Games, Catching Fire, says The Hollywood Reporter who broke the news.

I did a piece only yesterday, saying that the I Am Legend and Water for Elephants helmer was by far the best that Lionsgate would do, thus they should go after them. Obviously they're huge fans of the site 'cause they did. There were a lot of names being branded about for the gig, but Lawrence was always the best, and probably most viable option they had after Gary Ross parted company with the production. It's being pointed out this morning that Ross was also a huge part of the development and writing of the script and was planning on spending a couple of months honing it with Oscar winning Slumdog Millionaire scribe, Simon Beaufoy.

Production is set to begin in October, with star Jennifer Lawrence quickly moving on to the sequel to X-Men: First Class in January.