Lionsgate Getting Close On ‘Catching Fire’ Director
The race to replace Gary Ross as director of The Hunger Games sequel Catching Fire is likely between Moneyball director Bennett Miller and Francis Lawrence, who most recently directed Water for Elephants and who handled a big scale movie in I Am Legend. I’m told that Lionsgate also met with The Orphanage helmer Juan Antonio Bayona, and that they also discussed Attack The Block director Joe Cornish. But Bayona appears to be busy–though he’s not completely out of it–and Cornish didn’t get to the point of a meeting. If I had to guess, I would think the likely candidate to be Miller, who’s coming off such an impressive film. He’s very picky, but word is he is quite interested in replacing Ross in Catching Fire. The sticking point: he wanted to push until spring so he could make Foxcatcher for Fox. Lionsgate wants to start by August and doesn’t want to wait. That could put Lawrence in the driver’s seat. We should know the answer in a matter of days and possibly before the week is out.
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