Lionsgate has complete faith in The Hunger Games, the first installment of Gary Ross’s adaptation of the bestselling literary series. So while we still have weeks to go before the initial installment reaches theaters, the studio is moving forward behind the scenes on its sequel, according to The Wrap.

Ross, it appears, will be back for Catching Fire, the second book in Suzanne Collins’ YA franchise, and is supervising the script with screenwriter Simon Beaufoy, the Oscar-winning writer of Slumdog Millionaire and 127 Hours. Ross helped write the script for the first Hunger Games film with Collins and Billy Ray (Shattered Glass), and I admire the studio’s commitment to excellent writers. It’s going to go a LONG way toward potentially distancing the Hunger Games films from the Twilight saga.

Interestingly enough with the Hunger Games franchise, it just appears that Lionsgate has the bulk of the “skeleton” formed, and it's merely backtracking and filling in gaps as it goes. Take Catching Fire, for instance. We already know that Hunger Games stars Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Woody Harrelson and Liam Hemsworth are on board for the sequel. Heck, we even know when it’s going to open. (Nov. 22, 2013, if all goes according to plan.) Now that we have a writer and director in place, all that’s left to do is to show up at the theaters on March 23 and see if the kick-off to this potentially lucrative franchise is any good. But this news is a vote of confidence in Ross’s favor, so my hopes have gone a little higher than they were yesterday.