Adam Saltsman (aka Adam Atomic), the indie developer behind great games like Canabalt and Gravity Hook, has announced his next project for iOS called The Hunger Games: Girl on Fire. Unlike Saltsman's previous work, the project is being developed in partnership with film studio Lionsgate, which is producing the upcoming films based on the trilogy created by author Suzanne Collins.

On his blog, Saltsman explains that although in the past he's turned down numerous offers from third parties trying to commission what were ostensibly re-skinned versions of his iOS hit Canabalt, Lionsgate was quite different.

"I made it clear to them right up front that while I was a big fan of The Hunger Games, a copy of Canabalt was out of the question," Saltsman wrote. "I pitched them on an original touch-based action game instead. It does feature a running character, but the focus of the game is more on marksmanship and strategy... but we'll have more to say and show about that later!"

Lionsgate immediately agreed to his proposal, thus kicking off the project. Saltsman isn't the only talented indie developer that will be working on Girl on Fire, however. He's being joined by Mark Johns (Tap Tap Dance), Kevin Coulton (Doomlaser), Paul Veer (Super Crate Box), and Daniel Baranowsky (composer for both Super Meat Boy and Canabalt).

The development team is decidedly independent, and we're not sure what role Lionsgate will play (if any) beyond commissioning the game. We've reached out to Saltsman to find out some more details about The Hunger Games: Girl on Fire, and we'll keep you updated when new information arises.

The Hunger Games: Girl on Fire "is coming soon to your iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad, timed to [the first film's March 23] theatrical release."