GARY ROSS REMAINS IN NEGOTIATIONS TO DIRECT 'THE HUNGER GAMES' SEQUEL
GARY ROSS
gary ross remain negotiation direct 'the hunger games' sequel
<m> GARY ROSS </m> REMAINS IN NEGOTIATIONS TO DIRECT 'THE HUNGER GAMES' SEQUEL
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<m> GARY ROSS </m> REMAINS IN NEGOTIATIONS TO DIRECT 'THE HUNGER GAMES' SEQUEL
Wednesday , 04 April 2012 10 : 30
After opening to the third - biggest domestic debut weekend of all time , legitimate pop culture phenomenon The Hunger Games has grossed $368 . 0 million globally .
It's done so in under two weeks of theatrical release .
So with by far the biggest hit in its history , Lionsgate is naturally keen to continue the series with Catching Fire , the already announced adaptation of Suzanne Collins's novel .
But apparently it's not a guarantee that Gary Ross , who co - wrote and directed The Hunger Games , will be back for another round .
Lionsgate has long been open about its intent to turn Collins's bestselling young adult novels into a franchise , one that would spin four movies out of the literary trilogy .
Last year , the studio staked out a November 22 , 2013 release date for Catching Fire and pursued Oscar winning Slumdog Millionaire screenwriter Simon Beaufoy to pen the script .
In January , word emerged that Beaufoy was indeed at work on Catching Fire , and at the time , word was that he was doing so under Ross's supervision , with the director set to return .
Since then , it's been generally accepted that Ross would take another trip to Panem , particularly once The Hunger Games received an overwhelmingly positive critical response and , you know , made dump trucks of money .
Ross has by no means been set to direct , however .
According to The Hollywood Reporter , he has yet to formally sign on , and negotiations might just be proceeding with some difficulty , if the process on The Hunger Games is any indicator .
The reports cites an anonymous source familiar with Ross's negotiations last time , who cites it as , "a terrible experience . "
Lionsgate , unaccustomed to dealing with directors as established as the four time Oscar nominee and Pleasantville and Seabiscuit director , reportedly played some hardball with Ross , who ended up being paid $3 million .
That relatively low figure was no doubt helped by the 5% of the film's backend profits .
Having delivered a critically acclaimed , zeitgeist - tapping event movie , Ross is doubtless expecting a bigger figure for Catching Fire , but will Lionsgate pay it ?
Probably .
But maybe not .
Lionsgate recently bought Summit Entertainment , the distributor behind the Twilight franchise , meaning that the Lionsgate film division is now under the auspices of Summit's Patrick Wachsberger and Rob Friedman .
The revolving door of directors on the Twilight series has some fans worried that a similar policy might be carried out with The Hunger Games sequels .
Negotiations with Ross didn't actually begin until roughly three weeks before the first film's release , at which point it was obvious that the film would be successful , giving no small amount of leverage to the director , who co - wrote the screenplay with Collins and Billy Ray .
While Ross wasn't signed on to multiple films , stars Jennifer Lawrence , Josh Hutcherson , and Liam Hemsworth are all on board for the duration of the series .
But that's not say there's no potential issues there either .
The unanimously - praised Lawrence is also contractually obligated to reprise her role as Mystique in a sequel to last year's X - Men : First Class .
Her commitment there apparently supersedes her Hunger Games contract , meaning that if Fox goes ahead with another X - Men at an inconvenient moment , it could complicate the Catching Fire schedule .
Of course , all of this could be conjecture or , at the very least , over - analysis .
Let's not get hysterical just yet , folks .