GARY ROSS REMAINS IN NEGOTIATIONS TO DIRECT 'THE HUNGER GAMES' SEQUEL
SEQUEL
gary ross remain negotiation direct 'the hunger games' sequel
GARY ROSS REMAINS IN NEGOTIATIONS TO DIRECT 'THE HUNGER GAMES' <m> SEQUEL </m>
http : / / www . iamrogue . com / news / movie - news / item / 6206 - gary - ross - in - difficult - negotiations - to - direct - the - hunger - games - sequel . html
GARY ROSS REMAINS IN NEGOTIATIONS TO DIRECT 'THE HUNGER GAMES' <m> SEQUEL </m>
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 .