NEWS: Director Gary Ross, still not signed for The Hunger Games sequel, 'Catching Fire'?

Here's an interesting news. According to The Hollywood Reporter, unlike The Hunger Games trio Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth, Director Gary Ross is still not signed for sequels. Apparently, Lionsgate is still up to complete negotiations with him about taking on Catching Fire. Read the report below:

Now that The Hunger Games is a hit with more than $363 million in the till, the question is whether writer-director Gary Ross will return for the next installment in the lucrative Lionsgate franchise. 

Unlike stars Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth, Ross is not signed for a sequel. And negotiations for him to do the first movie were “a terrible experience,” says a source with knowledge of the discussions, because Ross is a seasoned filmmaker (Pleasantville, Seabiscuit) and Lionsgate isn’t accustomed to paying seasoned-filmmaker fees. He ended up taking a relatively low $3 million to write (with Billy Ray and novelist Suzanne Collins) and direct. But he will collect a very remunerative 5 percent of backend. 

Sources say Ross, 55, would like a significant raise for a secondHunger Games, but Lionsgate didn’t kick off negotiations with him until about three weeks before the first film’s March 23 opening. By then, with tracking suggesting a huge opening weekend, Ross and his CAA reps were in no hurry to bargain. 

Lionsgate has a script from Simon Beaufoy (Slumdog Millionaire) that Ross has yet to revise. The studio is in a rush to start the next film in the fall, though Fox might upset Lionsgate’s plan by exercising its option on Lawrence to start another X-Men movie first. (Fox’s option would trump Lionsgate’s hold on Lawrence, say sources.) Adding urgency: Lionsgate already has booked a November 2013 release for Hunger Games: Catching Fire.

I hope settlements and negotiations about this matter are done soon. I would be very upset if Gary Ross decides not to come back for Catching Fire. What do you guys think?

Read the entire article from THR here.

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