It was clear from the earliest teaser trailer that Francis Lawrence was planning to shake The Hunger Games franchise up a tad, and now the director has confirmed that he'll be bringing that Peeta, Katniss, Gale love triangle to the fore in Catching Fire.
Ms Everdeen's struggle to choose between the two fellas is a pretty central theme in Suzanne Collins' best selling book series, and one that Lawrence (the director, no relation to the star) is keen to focus on as the film series progresses.
"I felt the love story in general was a bit buried in the first one," he told New York Magazine. "I wanted to bring the love story to the surface. And when I say love story, I mean the triangle."
While that will be welcome news to devout Hunger Games fans (or Tributes as they like to be known in certain circles), it could be a bit of a gamble on Lawrence's part. After all, for some the whole appeal of the film was that triangle was hinted at (think of Gale's face when Katniss lobbed the gob on the big screen) but never really elaborated upon. They liked the film because our heroine didn't need a man to err, make her happy, as The Pussycat Dolls mot famously put it.
One thing we're sure will go down well though is the decision to ditch those shaky handheld camera shots this time around. No expense will be spared when making Catching Fire look as slick as possible.
Lawrence will discover whether or not that was a risk worth taking when the film hits cinemas on November 21st. Judging by the franchise's track record, we don't think he's got too much to worry about.
