To some, Danny Strong may forever be Jonathan From Out Of Buffy, but the actor / writer is crafting quite a reputation for himself as a go-to scripter. He hefted two Emmy Awards a little over a week ago for HBO TV movie Game Change and is now the top candidate to write the two-part script for Hunger Games finale Mockingjay.
Despite the well established cinematic keyboard likes of Michael Arndt and Simon Beaufoy working on Catching Fire, Lionsgate put the gig of crafting the third and fourth films – adapted from Suzanne Collins’ third book – out to various other scribes.
Strong has emerged the victor in a tough field that also included Cabin In The Woods co-writer / director Drew Goddard, Game Of Thrones’ Vanessa Taylor and Argo’s Chris Terrio.
He’s been winning more and more high profile gigs recently, mostly off the back of his work on Game Change and Recount. He worked on the script for Dan Brown adaptation The Lost Symbol and Lee Daniels’ The Butler. So there’s a chance that Doyle from Gilmore Girls and Boner from Shriek If You Know What I Did Last Friday The Thirteenth could be adding an Oscar to his award collection in future.
Mockingjay will see Katniss and the rebels take the fight to the Capitol. Though the films have no confirmed director yet, they’re scheduled to hit screens in November 2014 and 2015.