When Lionsgate settled their differences with Fox and set up a schedule that will allow Jennifer Lawrence to shoot Hunger Games sequel Catching Fire and the X-Men: First Class sequel back to back, it looked like full speed ahead for Lionsgate to start production on the next installment of their new, enormous franchise. But before Katniss can strap on her bow and arrow for round two, they're going to have to find somebody else to stand behind the camera and make it happen. Gary Ross, who had been in negotiations for a higher salary on the Hunger Games sequel, has officially decided not to return.
As reported by The Playlist, it isn't just the meager salary that turned Ross off. The Pleasantville and Seabiscuit director apparently wasn't all that interested in repeating himself, especially since neither of the subsequent two Hunger Games books are as good as the first, and he's got another script written that he not only likes better, but will net him more cash than the Catching Fire would have.
This director swap puts The Hunger Games firmly in the tradition of the Harry Potter and Twilight franchises, which switched up directors for nearly every film, and will create some fascinating speculation about who ought to take Ross's place. Which directors do you think would be well suited to the increasing darkness and violence of Catching Fire? Should Steven Soderbergh just step up from his second-unit work on The Hunger Games and take over the whole thing? Start the speculation in the comments below!
