Even as the cast and crew of the Hunger Games franchise were busy promoting Catching Fire, they were already in the middle of making the final two films in the series, Mockingjay — Part 1 (out Nov. 21, 2014) and Part 2 (out Nov. 20, 2015).

But if they are not careful, they could be walking into utter catastrophe.

While Suzanne Collins' novel Mockingjay makes for gripping and compelling reading, as source material for the concluding chapters of a global mega-blockbuster franchise, let's just say it presents some significant — some might say perilous — storytelling hazards.

Not that the folks making the film exactly feel this way. "It becomes more of a specific two-pronged examination of a society at war, and also of the exploitation of the media and of celebrity," Jeffrey Wright — who plays the nerdy inventor Beetee — told BuzzFeed earlier this month. "Yeah, it is darker, but I think it becomes even more relevant. I think it becomes less abstract, and much more grounded in issues that we're all facing as a society at war now."

Jena Malone, who plays the cynical Johanna Mason, added, "Knowing that it's actually going to a place that is kind of a little bit more dark, or realistic, or authentic in the sense of the way the film series will end, it allows you to get even more real. It's not like trying to fit an inauthentic arc into a happy ending."

And if you were holding out hope that the filmmakers would be significantly changing Collins' story, let director Francis Lawrence disabuse you of that notion. "The truth is that we're making the book," he told BuzzFeed. "We're not reinventing the book in any way. These people, if they start out damaged in Catching Fire, they're much more damaged by the beginning of Mockingjay. And the movie does go to dark places. I will say too that part of why I love those is that Suzanne didn't pull any punches. I'm actually really happy to be doing Mockingjay because of that. I think that's the book that gives the whole series its meaning."

While there may not be major changes from the book to the Mockingjay movies, Lawrence did indicate that he was not averse to making some minor tweaks. "There are some new elements to it. I think one of the things is when you experience the movies vs. the book, the books are so inside Katniss' head; we're not in Katniss' head as much," he said. "We're not changing the book, and we're not messing with anything, [but] we are injecting some hope to it, and some warmth to it. And there will be some humor. And there's some surprises. So there's different layers that we're adding to it to make it richer."

And with that in mind, here is a completely unsolicited catalogue of all of the narrative land mines buried within Mockingjay's unrelentingly grim story — as well as possible ways of avoiding them.

Needless to say, everything below is riddled with ALL KINDS OF MAJOR SPOILERS that will likely ruin a great deal of the Mockingjay movies and will definitely ruin the final book in Collins' trilogy if you have yet to read it. Consider yourself warned!