Yes, The Hunger Games has been quite the hot topic since the trailer debuted Monday. Tumblr, blogs, and news sites have been ablaze with any news they can find, and tonight we have news on the film. Well, actually its sequel. It seems Lionsgate is starting to look at the series as a whole, and is reportedly going for a big name for Catching Fire.

Deadline is exclusively reporting that Simon Beaufoy, who has previously written Best Picture winner Slumdog Millionaire, and last year’s Best Picture contender 127 Hours, is the prime target of the studio to write the sequel to The Hunger Games. No word yet on an official signing, though.

Given the amount of buzz around the film this week, there’s definitely a feeling that the first film will do undoubtedly well. Catching Fire is slated for a release in November 2013. Filming does not yet have a start date, but most likely will start anywhere between Summer-Fall 2012.

Director Gary Ross is reportedly returning for the second film as well, after directing the upcoming introduction into the series. In fact, he was originally intended to script the next film with author Suzanne Collins, but post production on The Hunger Games became too overwhelming. No word yet if Beaufoy will pair up with Collins on Catching Fire‘s script.

The Hunger Games will be released everywhere on March 23rd, 2012.