Boy has this been a fun little merry-go-round. First reports say that Gary Ross is off CATCHING FIRE due to monetary reasons, then they say he’s off for sure (so that he can an original script whilst still being paid more than Lionsgate offered), and now Deadline is claiming that it has confirmation from sources on the inside saying that concerns Ross has exited the director’s chair of CATCHING FIRE are untrue.
While Ross is currently off on a family vacation and thereby unreachable, with how much this whole situation has been in the news I wouldn’t be surprised if an official statement of some kind were to be released. With five months at the most to go before shooting begins (i.e. late August/early September), and considering the scope and pressure of CATCHING FIRE, any director is going to want as much time as possible for pre-production. Honestly, it seems to me like there is a fair chance that Ross will return after all, especially when you take into account how hard he worked to get THE HUNGER GAMES gig in the first place and how much he has helped to craft the script for CATCHING FIRE.
More as we hear it which, at the rate this news is rolling in, may well be as soon as later today.