**UPDATE – An update from Deadline contradicts this news and you can read more about it here.
Every fan of the Hunger Games needs to take a time out and read this. For the umpteenmillion people who saw the Hunger Games 2-10 times within the past few weeks everything has been heavenly. Katniss kicking ass was a sight to behold and, despite a few cinematography criticims, everything was going great on getting everyone back for more and turning the thing into an annual affair for a while. Well, it appears that “The Hunger Games” director Gary Ross will not be returning to helm the next entry in the franchise that’s supposed to begin filming this fall. There were some reports earlier in the week that Ross was in midst of negotiations to sign on for the next film as he was only bound by contract to film the first film in the series. Well it seems that things turned south in midst of those negotiations and we’re learning that Ross won’t be returning to film the next in the series. It’s pretty safe to say that he wanted more money to continue to direct the franchise and, well, we can all speculate and surmise how that negotiation went as the search for a new director begins.
For those still holding their breath in disbelief here a reason to exhale in relief. Binding contracts have been signs by all the major stars to reprise their roles in future installments so Jennifer Lawrence will not be escaping The Hunger Games franchise anytime soon.
This isn’t the end of the world and actually might turn into a good thing for the franchise. The Harry Potter series only began to really pick up steam, for me, when they let Alfonso Cuarón direct ‘The Prisoner of Azkaban’ and moved Chris Colombus into a Producers chair. Can’t wait to see how this develops and find out who steps up to take over the directorial duties of the next film. Feel free to rant on who would be able to do the job right and steer this movie further into prosperity in the comments.
Source: Movieweb
