The Kidd here...
Lionsgate seems to be throwing a who's who list of directors against the wall for who they'd like to see at the helm of CATCHING FIRE now that Gary Ross has moved on. How else do you explain David Cronenberg being under consideration, except if you're going to start wishing, why not Cronenberg? I'm surprised we didn't see Spielberg's name on the list while we were at it.
But, beyond the initial dreams of Alfonso Cuaron (who definitely has a shot as his HARRY POTTER chapter is widely regarded as the best "film" of the bunch), you can add a couple more candidates to the discussion who have been entered into the running, at least on the studio's side: Bennett Miller and Francis Lawrence.
According to The Playlist, Miller and Lawrence may have already been contacted about the second leg of THE HUNGER GAMES trilogy, in order to gauge their interests, and they couldn't be two more different options on the table. While Miller may seem to be above THE HUNGER GAMES on the surface, he was ultimately the one to land the difficult adaptation of MONEYBALL after Steven Soderbergh bailed. In addition, the two narrative feature films of his career - CAPOTE and MONEYBALL - both landed Best Picture nods from the Academy, with CAPOTE even landing him a nomination for Best Director. There was certainly a quick-paced visual style implemented in MONEYBALL that took it to a level beyond just a story about numbers and statistics, so Miller having to deal with some action may not seem that far-fetched.
Lawrence has the action experience under his belt - CONSTANTINE and I AM LEGEND - but it's the dramatic aspects that haven't exactly worked well in his films. He had ½ of a good movie going for him in I AM LEGEND until the cartoonish CGI showed up and ruined things for the rest of the film, but I was actually drawn into the story of Will Smith alone with his dog (a feat since I'm hardly the biggest Will Smith fan). His films have just felt uneven to this point, and he hasn't been able to pull one together completely to this point. WATER FOR ELEPHANTS was a step in the right direction, once again another adaptation capably done... but will CATCHING FIRE be the opportunity he gets to make it all work?
I expect a director to be named soon enough, because the longer Lionsgate waits, the more trouble they're going to have fitting production into the tight window they have scheduled.
-Billy Donnelly
"The Infamous Billy The Kidd"
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