Gary Ross now officially out of Hunger Games sequel
by Doc on Apr.11, 2012, under Movies
It’s a bit of he-isn’t-he-is-he-isn’t, but it appears final this time: Gary Ross says he will not direct Catching Fire, the sequel to his highly-successful adaptation of The Hunger Games. And it appears the driving reason wasn’t that as rumored he didn’t want to “repeat himself” – but rather that Lionsgate’s schedule for the sequel is too aggressive.
“Despite recent speculation in the media, and after difficult but sincere consideration, I have decided not to direct Catching Fire,” Ross said in a release from Lionsgate late yesterday. “As a writer and a director, I simply don’t have the time I need to write and prep the movie I would have wanted to make because of the fixed and tight production schedule.”
This was apparently a bit of a surprise to the Lionsgate execs. But now we get to continue speculation on who will take over – and expect that to be REAL hot, as they don’t have a lot of time to spend on a search…