Will Philip Seymour Hoffman take role in 'Catching Fire'?

Hoffman in 2011/Wikipedia

The Hollywood Reporter says the Oscar winning Philip Seymour Hoffman (Best Actor for ‘Capote’ 2005)) has been offered the role of Plutarch Heavensbee in CATCHING FIRE, Liongate’s sequel to THE HUNGER GAMES.

For folks who haven’t read the trilogy by Suzanne Collins, Heavensbee is the new gamemaker of the brutal kill-or-be-killed games. (His predecessor was Seneca Crane, played by actor Wes Bentley in the first movie. And we all know what happened to him!)

To read the whole story from THR, CLICK HERE.

Francis Lawrence (I AM LEGEND, CONSTANTINE and WATER FOR ELEPHANTS) is set to direct the sequel since HUNGER GAMES director Gary Ross  bowed out after he felt he wouldn’t have enough time to complete the second film.

Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, and Liam Hemsworth will reprise their roles as Katniss, Peeta and Gale, with Lenny Kravitz, Elizabeth Banks, Stanley Tucci, Donald Sutherland, Toby Jones, and Woody Harrelson also returning.

Production is supposed to start this fall, and the film is scheduled to be released Nov. 22, 2013.