| Now that Lionsgate has tracked down a director for Hunger Games sequel Catching Fire in Francis Lawrence, the studio is apparently on the hunt for someone to re-write Simon Beaufoy’s initial script drafts for the incoming megaphone man. It’s turning to Toy Story 3 craftsman Michael Arndt. The writer, who also won an Oscar for his Little Miss Sunshine screenplay, hasn’t actually locked in a contract to do any work on the Fire script yet, but negotiations are under way. If he does make a deal, Arndt will be under a time crunch, because the sequel is on a tight schedule looking to kick off filming later this summer in order to allow Jennifer Lawrence time to also shoot the X-Men: First Class sequel for Fox. Still, it’s definitely not the first time a production team has had to race to make a pre-announced release date, and with Lionsgate looking to strike as quickly as possible after the success of the first Games film, this was a foregone conclusion. Arndt, who has spent a lot of time at Pixar helping out on various projects, has been also worked on the film version of animated series Phineas And Ferb and contributed scripting time to Disney’s ever-evolving Snow White take-off Order Of The Seven, which, coincidentally, was also on Lawrence’s radar for a time. | 
