When Lionsgate had to pick the director of the Hunger Games sequel Catching Fire, the studio had a highbrow shortlist that included Bennett Miller, David Cronenberg, and Stephen Daldry, even if the gig eventually went to I Am Legend helmer Francis Lawrence. For the studio’s next bid at a young-adult franchise to succeed Twilight and Hunger Games, Lionsgate will keep things rarefied: Deadline reports that Charlie Kaufman (Being John Malkovich, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) has signed on to adapt the YA book series Chaos Walking, about a dystopian future war. It’s an intriguing choice and a major get for Lionsgate, though Kaufman has previously taken some time out from his own mind-bending films to do, say, some script work on Kung Fu Panda 2. Even our most ingenious screenwriters have to eat!
