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Earlier today we reported that the Jennifer Lawrence tug of war between Lionsgate and Fox ended up with
Fox bowing out and scheduling the production for the sequel to X-Men: First Class for a January start. Presumably this meant that Lionsgate was near the end of their negotiations with The Hunger Games director Gary Ross to helm Catching Fire, which would presumably start production later this fall.
Well Lionsgate has a open position for the director’s chair as Ross will not be returning to the director’s chair to helm Catching Fire.
Obviously there was the money dispute, with The Hunger Games being a critical and commercial hit. In fact its still taking in a healthy amount of money. But it was assumed that Ross would be getting a raise for his services and the studio would come to terms with his requests. But that is the case no longer.
So why is this happening? Well maybe Ross was letting on us on more than we like know. He may have been leading many to think he was ready to helm a sequel by sitting on the fact that he was just waiting for negoitations to fall through.
Though Lionsgate’s reps have said there has been no official word on the matter, The Playlist says otherwise. But its understandable that a director would not want to be attached to a franchise tent pole for an extensive amount of time.
So now that the battle over Jennifer Lawrence is over, Lionsgate has gotten itself in an entirely new situation. Catching Fire is expected to shoot this fall, can’t imagine Lionsgate pushing its luck with Fox’s generosity. But as to who could be directing Catching Fire, I like the idea of Steven Soderberg directing the movie. As you may remember, Soderberg was brought in to oversee a couple of scenes for the movie, abliet it was only for a day. But if Soderberg can make a day look that good, imagine what he can do for a few months of production.
The Hunger Games sequel is set for release on November 22, 2013. So who do you think should direct Catching Fire?
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