Collins’ dystopian novel series has been every inch as successful as the films that followed, selling more than 65 million copies in the US alone.

Lawrence and his team have consulted with Collins on the film adaptations, with the author working on the script and attending some casting and audition sessions.

“I go to visit and to watch, but there’s nothing really for me to do in terms of work,” she told Time last year. “It’s like, you get to the set and everybody has a job but you. I feel very comfortable about whatever’s transpiring on the set whether I’m there or not, which is nice.”

Collins reviewed the original Hunger Games film in 2012.

“I’m really happy with how it turned out,” she wrote on her Facebook page. “I feel like the book and the film are individual yet complementary pieces that enhance one another. The film opens up the world beyond Katniss’ point of view, allowing the audience access to the happenings of places... like the Hunger Games control room and President Snow’s rose garden, thereby adding a new dimension to the story.”

In other Hunger Games news, Oscar winner Jennifer Lawrence looks set to make an unlikely side career as a pop star after The Hanging Tree, her new song from the soundtrack of the latest film, entered the UK charts today at number 29. It's a nice little accolade to add to her Academy Award...

Photos: Rex Features

What do you think? Could the Hunger Games films be expanded beyond the book series? Or should the big-screen adaptations stick strictly to the plot laid out by Suzanne Collins? Let us know in the comments section below.

Hunger Games director hints films may continue from where book trilogy finishes