"The Hunger Games": Philip Seymour Hoffman joins cast of "Catching Fire"

(CBS/AP) LOS ANGELES - Philip Seymour Hoffman has officially joined the cast of "The Hunger Games" sequel.

Hoffman, who earned the best-actor Oscar for 2005's "Capote," will play a pivotal role in the second installment of the futuristic adventure series, "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire."

Pictures: Philip Seymour Hoffman
Pictures: "The Hunger Games" cast in NYC

Lionsgate Films announced Monday that Hoffman will play Plutarch Heavensbee, the new head game-maker overseeing an annual televised fight to the death staged by a repressive government in post-apocalyptic North America.

"Catching Fire" takes place a year after the blockbuster "The Hunger Games," with game survivors Katniss Everdeen, played by Jennifer Lawrence, and Peeta Mellark, played by Josh Hutcherson, hurled into the government's machinations over the 75th annual games.

Speculation has been rampant over who will play two other characters central to the plot in "Catching Fire" - former "Hunger Games" victors Finnick Odair and Johanna Mason. Last week, the Hollywood Reporter reported that actress Jena Malone ("Sucker Punch") has been offered the role of Mason.

Based on the middle book of Suzanne Collins' best-selling trilogy, "Catching Fire" hits theaters Nov. 22, 2013.