Jena Malone Officially Nabs Role of Johanna in ‘Catching Fire’

After a lot of rumors about who was getting the role, it now appears official that Jena Malone has been picked to play Johanna Mason in the 'Hunger Games' sequel 'Catching Fire.' But will she get naked onscreen?

The Hollywood Reporter confirmed that Malone, seen lately in Zack Snyder's 'Sucker Punch' and the History Channel miniseries 'Hatfields & McCoys,' has been chosen to play the District 7 tribute and is now in talks with Lionsgate to close the deal. Johanna also appears in the third book, 'Mockingjay,' so we imagine Malone will be locked down for both movies.

The actress beat out other rumored contenders like little-known actress/model Zoe Aggeliki and 'Alice in Wonderland' star Mia Wasikowska for the part. Earlier this week it was reported that Aggeliki, who will be seen in next year's 'R.I.P.D.,' had edged out Malone for the role, although perhaps that was just the former's agent talking too soon.

Johanna is described as a a tough, sarcastic and deceptive tribute who survived her previous Hunger Games tournament by pretending she was weak and then revealing herself as a brutal killer once the field of contestants was narrowed down. In her memorable introduction in the book, she strips naked out of her tribute costume in order to make the nudity-averse Katniss Everdeen feel uncomfortable.

The question is, will she do the same in the movie version and threaten the film's likely nudity-averse PG-13 rating? Our guess is that new director Francis Lawrence can use some of the old shaky-cam or clever editing to get around the problem once shooting begins in late September.

All will be revealed -- so to speak -- when 'The Hunger Games: Catching Fire' arrives on November 22nd, 2013.