Gary Ross Has A Hunger Inside Him

After a string of directors vied for the plum job of directing The Hunger Games, Lionsgate has its man: Gary Ross, director of Pleasantville and Seabiscuit, also the writer of comedies Big and Dave. Ross beat out a slew of contenders including David Slade, Andrew Adamson, and Sam Mendes.

Lionsgate has their eyes set on a potential bonanza franchise that could make them as liquid as Twilight made fellow mini-major Summit. Deadline is reporting that although Ross has not signed on the dotted line, he is the first choice. Ross is attached to several other projects, including The Crusaders, The Free State of Jones, and a remake of The Creature From The Black Lagoon.

Hunger Games is a wildly popular series of young adult novels by Suzanne Collins published by Scholastic, which you may have seen some of your older friends reading as well. They revolve around a futuristic post-apocalyptic society (is there any other kind?) where in the oppressive city of Capital young boys and girls fight to the death in televised arena battles. Sounds a bit like Mad Max meets Battle Royale... but for kids!

Attempts at creating young adult franchises can be shaky business. Slam-dunks like Harry Potter, Narnia, and Twilight have paved the studio streets with gold, but the corpses of non-starters like Eragon and City of Ember line those same streets. Young adult novels veer wildly in their family appeal, from being too light (Indian in the Cupboard) to too dark (Lemony Snicket). Hitting that four-quadrant bullseye is the sweet-spot everyone is aiming for, and whether Lionsgate can step out of their niche as the house that Saw and Madea built remains to be seen...