Philip Seymour Hoffman will star in film thanks to CGI

Producers will use digital images of Philip Seymour Hoffman to shoot a scene in the film he was making before his death.

The Oscar-winning actor had nearly completed filming on the next film of The Hunger Games series when he was found dead on Sunday from an apparent heroin overdose in his New York apartment.

Hoffman, who plays Plutarch Heavensbee, a key character in the plot, had finished filming on the first part of Mockingjay, the third instalment in the fantasy saga, but still had seven days to work on part two.

Lions Gate, the studio behind the franchise, is working out how to finish the second film, which is not due out until November 2015, in a manner that will convince fans. Their challenge is understood to involve an emotional scene with the actress Jennifer Lawrence that is at the heart of the denouement.

Film-makers are expected to use digital technology to portray Hoffman in some shots as well as deploying other computer graphics and camera tricks. "We're all extraordinarily sad," a Lions Gate executive told The Hollywood Reporter. "But as it relates to production, it's going to have no impact. His performances in both [remaining] movies will be up to the best of his craft."