How "Catching Fire" Can Meet Its Deadline

With a release date of November 22, 2013, Lionsgate needs to get to work on the movie!

…Lionsgate is believed to have a list of candidates in mind [for director], and there should be no shortage of takers for a bankable franchise whose first installment is closing in on grosses of half a billion dollars worldwide in just three weeks.
But he or she will face an even tighter production schedule than the one Ross cited as his key reason for exiting. Lionsgate is holding firm to its Nov. 22, 2013 release date for “Catching Fire,” a spokeswoman confirmed Wednesday.
Fox’s “X-Men: First Class” sequel is compressing that window further, given that “Games” star Jennifer Lawrence is committed to the superhero pic, which has a January 2013 shoot date planned. If Fox won’t budge, “Catching Fire” would have to wrap production by December

They have three main goals to meet their deadline:

• It needs to sign a director whose late-summer schedule is open and can immediately begin working with “Slumdog Millionaire” screenwriter Simon Beaufoy, who’s still crafting the “Fire” script.

• Though Lionsgate has the lead actors (Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth and Woody Harrelson) locked in for the sequels, the stunning performance of “Hunger Games” means the company may feel the need to sweeten their deals — even if it’s not contractually obligated to do so.

• Once a director is on board, he or she needs to cast about two dozen additional actors who were not in “The Hunger Games.”

I totally agree with the last one - I was actually talking about that before watching "The Hunger Games" movie! They have to cast all new actors and actresses!

Source: Variety