Now that Gary Ross is officially out as the director of The Hunger Games sequel, Catching Fire, Lionsgate is moving quickly to find somebody to replace him. They have to jump on the ball if they don't want production on their box office juggernaut to be slowed down, but that doesn't mean any ol' director will do. Ross was a popular guy on set, and most importantly author Suzanne Collins loved working with him. He not only ran a tight ship, necessary for the compressed filming schedule, but also aided in the script. Whoever takes his place is going to need to be much the same, and pitch in on the writing side along with Collins and Simon Beaufoy.
24 Frames has learned just a few of the names on the shortlist for the job, and clearly Lionsgate is aiming high. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu(21 Grams), Alfonso Cuaron(Children of Men), and David Cronenberg(A History of Violence) are just three of what is said to be 7 or 8 names on the list, all dudes. Any one of these three would be an excellent choice, but as of now it's unclear if the studio has even started talking to any of them, or how committed they are to anybody in particular. I really want to see who else is on that list!
Cuaron seems like the most logical choice of the three, mainly because he has major franchise experience as director of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. It was his arrival, after two flat out bad movies by Chris Columbus, that took 'Potter' to the next level, inching them towards darker, more mature material and evolving the look of the world significantly. The problem is he's currently putting the finishing touches on Gravity, the sci-fi film(with a stunning 17 minute opening shot!) starring Sandra Bullock and George Clooney. There's little chance he could hit Lionsgate's planned August start date for Catching Fire.
Cronenberg has never been a franchise guy, and certainly not one prone to making such mainstream fare. To me, he's the least likely to agree, but if he did would have the greatest impact of all. Inarritu, who last took Javier Bardem to an Academy Award nomination for Biutiful, doesn't normally make movies as linear as Catching Fire would require. This would be a major change of pace for him, but one that would elevate his status in Hollywood greatly. He may not be my first choice, but he's a solid one and definitely has the most open schedule.
Hopefully we'll find out who else is in contention, but The Hunger Games fans should be happy with these three, and I'm betting Suzanne Collins is as well.
