Francis Lawrence, the man behind the camera for theHunger Games sequel Catching Fire,has signed on the direct the next two films in the series – The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Parts 1 & 2.

Lawrence, whose previous credits include Water For Elephants and I Am Legend, is currently at work on the second film in the series,which is set to be released in cinemas in a years time.

The news that Lawrence has signed on to film the remainder of the franchise came yesterday when movie site Collider broke the exclusive. He will follow fellow mainstays Jennifer Lawrence, Liam Hemsworth and Josh Hutcherson now, who star as the main characters Katniss Everdeen, Gale Hawthorne and Peeta Mellark respectively.

The films themselves are adapted from the hugely successful book where an annual by American author Suzanne Collins and are set in a dystopian future. The titular 'Hunger Games' are held in which one boy and one girl aged 12–18 from each of the twelve districts surrounding a major city are selected at random to compete in a televised battle to the death. The books themselves have become one of the most widely read and popular series since the Harry Potter series and the first film proved to be a box office hit, with the subsequent film expected to perform just as well.