THE HUNGER GAMES: CATCHING FIRE Casts Jena Malone as Johanna Mason

Director Francis Lawrence (I Am Legend, Constantine) has signed on to helm the sequel to this spring's hit film The Hunger Games, which is based on the second in a series of books by Suzanne Collins that has 36 million copies in circulation in the US alone.

Katniss Everdeen has won the annual Hunger Games with Peeta Mellark. But it had been a victory won by defiance of the Capitol and their harsh rules. Katniss and Peeta should be happy. But there are rumors of rebellion among the subjects, and Katniss and Peeta, to their horror, are the faces of that rebellion.

Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, and Liam Hemsworth will reprise their lead roles as Katniss, Peeta and Gale, with Lenny Kravitz, Elizabeth Banks, Stanley Tucci, Donald Sutherland, Toby Jones, and Woody Harrelson also returning to their respective roles. The film will be produced by Jacobson’s Color Force in tandem with producer Jon Kilik.

The latest addition to the film's cast is Jena Malone who will portray the part of Johanna Mason, a snide, ax-wielding former Hunger Games winner from District 7. Mason plays an integral part in Catching Fire, helping Katniss and Peeta after their return from the Games, and reappears in the final installment of the planned film trilogy Mockingjay.

Malone was last seen in theaters playing the character Rocket in director Zack Snyder's Sucker Punch. She also recently starred in the television miniseries Hatfields & McCoys in the role of Nancy McCoy.

Production on The Hunger Games: Catching Fire is slated to begin this Fall, and the film will be released on November 22, 2013.