Lionsgate lets loose a wish list of top directors for Catching Fire

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

After this past weekend’s intensive back-and-forth, Gary Ross at last elected to not return for the sequel to the franchise he helped to jump start, leaving Lionsgate and the Thanksgiving 2013 release that is CATCHING FIRE without a director.

But while Lionsgate would like to find someone new to lead the planned August shoot as quickly as possible while Jennifer Lawrence is still available to film, they also need “to find a director with enough credits and accolades to appeal to [author Suzanne] Collins, who is much more interested in quality filmmaking than box-office prowess.”  Which is something I wholly support, as does any sensible person really.  And which leads us to the wish list Lionsgate has compiled – while the list is “seven or eight names long,” boy oh boy what a wishlist it is.  It certainly shows that, at least in theory, Lionsgate is serious about outdoing themselves this second time ’round. 

So drum roll please… the three names known thus far on Lionsgate’s List are David Cronenberg, Alfonso Cuaron, and Alejandro Gonzalez Iñárritu.  Cuaron has been suggested by many on this site, myself included, but either of the other two would make a fascinating film in their own right.  What we have here are three distinct directorial visions, none of which I”m confident could produce anything less than a stellar product even with the limited pre-production time.  

This then begs the question: as the other names on the list are yet-unrevealed, give us your thoughts on why your pick of the above three should get the gig and/or hop on over to our most recent “Cast This” column and make your contribution there.