After a lot of speculation, Lionsgate has officially confirmed that the final installment of The Hunger Games franchise will be split into two movies. The studio announced that The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 will be released on November 21st, 2014, with The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 ending the series November 20th, 2015.
Lionsgate has been thinking about this for a while, but needed to ensure it could get the key actors to agree to an extra movie before officially announcing the move. Splitting the last story in a major novel-to-film franchise has almost become common practice as of late, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows into two parts, and Summit doing the same with Stephenie Meyer’s The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn.
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire goes into production next month, which is set for release on November 22nd, 2013. Francis Lawrence is directing the sequel, although it’s too early to tell if he will be back for this two-part finale. (Source: Variety)