Following news last month that Lionsgate hired director Francis Lawrence (Constantine, I Am Legend) to succeed Gary Ross to direct the Hunger Games sequel, Catching Fire, the studio is busy moving forward on this project and is now lining up a new writer to work on the screenplay.

THR reports that Michael Arndt (Toy Story 3, Little Miss Sunshine) is in talks with Lionsgate to crank out the screenplay for Catching Fire that is scheduled to being production later this summer. Both Lawrence and Arndt have a hard act to follow considering the $600 million box office score the big screen adaptation of Suzanne Collins’s Hunger Games raked in under helmer Gary Ross this year.

Simon Beaufoy (Slugdog Millionaire) worked on early drafts of the script for Catching Fire. The rush to production is driven by the tight filming schedule of star Jennifer Lawrence as she has a commitment with Fox for the X-Men: First Class sequel.

Catching Fire is slated to hit theaters on November 22nd, 2013.