The Director Of Catching Fire Is...

Sources tell THR that Francis Lawrence will receive an official offer from Lionsgate to take over for Gary Ross directing the next film in "The Hunger Games" saga adapting author Suzanne Collins' novel series "Catching Fire"

If he accepts Lawrence will have beaten out other contenders Alfonso Cuaron, David Cronenberg and Alejandro González Iñárritu, Tomas Alfredson and Duncan Jones and Bennet Miller.

Lawrence, who has directed Constantine, I Am Legend and more recently, Water for Elephants is considered the a "safe" choice since his schedule was wide open while his closest competitor Miller is working on gearing up "Foxcatcher" to shoot this December.

He would work on fixing up the script with writer Simon Beaufoy and author Collins. And shooting is slated to begin in August so that star actress Jennifer Lawrence can start work on Fox's in-development as yet Untitled X-Men First Class Sequel in January.

He’ll have precious time to prepare; Catching Fire already has a set release date (Nov. 22, 2013), and needs to finish shooting by December...

But there's no pressure really....