Despite the face that Michael Arndt has been brought in to do script re-writes, Simon Beaufoy will still be credited for adapting the Catching Fire script. He did the original adaptation and then Arndt was brought on after. Beaufoy, famous for his Slumdog Millionaire script.  told the LA Times that he has completed his work on the script. No word now as to where Arndt is in his re-write process!

You might not think there’s much left for a Hollywood screenwriter to accomplish after penning a sequel to “The Hunger Games.” But for Simon Beaufoy, the Oscar-winning scribe behind “Slumdog Millionaire,” there’s plenty of work ahead now that he’s  finished adapting Suzanne Collins’ novel “Catching Fire.”

“I’m done [with ‘Catching Fire’] and getting back to several different projects,” Beaufoy told 24 Frames from his home in London on Thursday.

MovieFanatic recently posted an article about Simon Beaufoy who is adapting Catching Fire, and his experience working with author Suzanne Collins :

The second adaptation in The Hunger Games book series by Suzanne Collins has already been completed by the screenwriter. “I think she’s reading the first draft, right now,” Beaufoy proudly stated. As collaborators go, the screenwriter reported that the entire process with Collins has been pure bliss. “She’s been fantastic.”

The screenwriter said that because of two aspects, Collins has been an invaluable asset. She has written for TV and film before, and therefore, helped make Beaufoy’s job easier. “She’s done a lot of the work for me already. They’ll cut my wage if you print that,” he said and laughed. “But that’s what I understood when I got to grips with it. She’d actually done a lot of my work for me already.”

“It’s the one time I have not read the book twice and then put it to one side. Usually, I never go back to them. With this one, I had to be a lot more faithful because there’s such a fan base that are more than usually keen that you get it absolutely right,” he added.

Normally he has to go through and figure out what to pump up and what to weed out for the big screen. But, Collins’ background in the visual has made that job easy, especially considering the microscope with which this particular page-to-screen effort will be under. “They have a Hunger Games fan base that is passionate beyond anything before that I’ve come across, and I would fear for my life if I got that adaptation wrong. If I do it too free of that, I shall get firebombed,” he said and smiled. “I’m being very careful with that.”

Beaufoy feels that Collins may be the author he’s worked with who most understands her readership. “She knows her audience brilliantly. She’ll tell me, ‘That bit, you just can’t cut out because they’ll go crazy,’” he said. “Other bits, she’ll tell me, that’ll be fine to change this. But, she really knows her readers. Because she’s been in the film world, she understands about adapting that things have to go, things have to change.” 

In order to accurately get the second in the series correct, Beaufoy has had the rarest of opportunities. He’s seen The Hunger Games. “I had to. I’m not going to tell you what happens, but seriously… it’s brilliant,” he said. “It’s really good.”

Read the entire article HERE 

In an interview with the L.A. Times 24 Frames, Simon Beaufoy talks about taking on the Hunger Games sequel Catching Fire, and Suzanne Collins writing.

Beaufoy has often been part of small movies that have become Oscar-winning surprises, but his next project sees him tackle what is arguably the most high-profile writing job of his career: adapting the sequel to the dystopian adventure “The Hunger Games.” Although the Lionsgate film isn’t due in theaters until March 23, Beaufoy is already fine-tuning the screenplay for “Catching Fire,” based on author Suzanne Collins’ second novel in the bestselling series.

Beaufoy was reluctant to share many details about the project, but he did say that he’s been charmed by Collins and her knowledge of warfare.

“She’s fascinating,” said Beaufoy. “Her dad was a military expert, historian and lecturer and used to be in the forces. It’s fascinating hearing her talk about the thesis for the three novels: The first is about survival, the second is rebellion and the third is about all-out war. She’s very compelling about all of that.”

Beaufoy was impressed by the boldness of Collins’ writing, specifically her treatment of young people. “The books treat teenagers exactly how teenagers want to be treated — with great seriousness. The situations are life and death and we don’t have to sugarcoat that.”

He went on to say that he believes gender matters very little in the “Hunger Games” saga, which, of course, revolves around the experiences of young heroine Katniss Everdeen (played in the film by Jennifer Lawrence).

“What I really love about the books is it isn’t even up for discussion that she’s a girl,” Beaufoy said. “There’s no discussion that she shouldn’t be killing people because she’s a girl, and she shouldn’t be killed because she’s a girl. We’ve done gender politics. This is about life and death. It makes the gender politics seem finicky and not terribly interesting.”

Read the rest HERE 

Simon Beaufoy recently  talked about his excitement and anxiety about taking on the Catching Fire screenplay.

In an article from Contact Music :

Oscar-winning screenwriter Simon Beaufoy is beginning to feel the pressure after signing on to adapt the second Hunger Games book into a screenplay.

The Brit, who won gold at the Academy Awards for his Slumdog Millionaire script, took on the project because he thought author Suzanne Collins’ novel was “interesting” – but now he realises he has the book’s avid fans to satisfy.

He tells WENN, “I’m working on Catching Fire, which is the second in the Hunger Games trilogy. I took this on in a rather naive way thinking, ‘This is a really interesting book,’ not realising that the entire teenage female population of America is watching its every move very closely.

“I found I took on a much bigger commitment than I realized! It’s very exciting. They’re very interesting books. Suzanne Collins is a very clever writer. That’s my job to get inside the heads of the characters.

“I’ve gotten inside the head of people in slums in India (Slumdog Millionaire), so it won’t be a problem to get inside a teenager’s head.”

Yesterday we reported that screen writer Simon Beaufoy has completed the first draft of the script for Catching Fire. Today we learn that the script has been delivered to Suzanne Collins and that she is in the process of reading it!

According to E! Online :

“I just finished the first draft, literally a few days ago,” screenwriter Simon Beaufoy told us at last night’s L.A. premiere of his new film, Salmon Fishing in the Yemen (out on Friday). “I’m waiting to see what everyone thinks.”

Beaufoy said he’s working closely with Collins on Catching, which will see the return of Jennifer Lawrence, Liam Hemsworth and Josh Hutcherson. They’ll be sticking to the book for the most part, but there will be some tweaks here and there.

“Things always do have to change otherwise there’s always something very flat about very faithful adaptations,” he said. “But on the other hand, there’s an extremely loyal fan base and readership and you just have to be careful of how many liberties you do take.

“So fortunately Suzanne is here to help me,” he continued. “She’s reading this draft at the moment and she’ll tell me, ‘You can’t do that. You must do this.’ Because there are some things that are sacrosanct to her readers and she knows them very well and she’ll let me know.”

It’s reassuring to me as a fan that Suzanne Collins continues to be actively involved in Catching Fire and that she is working closely with the Simon on the script. How excited are you guys for Catching Fire?

In an interview with Hollywood Outbreak, screen writer Simon Beaufoy says the first draft of Catching Fire has ben submitted.

According to Hollywood Outbreak :

During today’s Salmon Fishing in the Yemen interviews, Beaufoy talked about writing the screenplay to Catching Fire, the follow up to The Hunger Games..

Beaufoy wrote the screenplay to the Emily Blunt/Ewan McGregor dramaSalmon Fishing in the Yemen (opening in limited Friday), and the following interview is taken from the Salmon’s press day.

“It’s very, very different from the way I normally adapt which is to read the book twice and then put it to one side,” says Beaufoy, who has already submitted his first draft for Catching Fire.  “You can’t do this (with Catching Fire) because you’ll get firebombed by the fan base.  I never see changing a novel a lot into a screenplay is disrespect at all really to the novel or the novelist.  I see it as the opposite.  You are making something different.  And to do that you have to be quite free with the material.  I had many concerns with taking on Catching Fire because my usual approach is to be very free.  But what I hadn’t realized was that Suzanne Collins used to be a TV writer and film writer. She sort of adapted it already. The novels are very filmic structurally already.  Luckily I haven’t had that battle in my head where I thought I had to discard everything, which is good because the fan base is incredibly loyal to everything.”

For audio of Simon describing why the Hunger Games trilogy as bold storytelling, click HERE 

Read the entire article HERE