Fantasy “Casting” for ‘Catching Fire’ Director

Posted April 11, 2012 by Crystal in Editorial

With Gary Ross now officially out of the director’s chair for Catching Fire, the Mockingjay.net team has come up with a list of our ideal picks for Gary’s replacement. It’s a tough job, but somebody has to do it and they have to come on board quickly!

Beth – Danny Boyle

I’m mainly picking him based on his directing with 28 Weeks Later. That was the first zombie movie I ever saw that legitimately scared me without having all the blood and guts thrown in my face. Sure, there was blood in it but not enough to make me cringe. I think he shot it brilliantly, and the movie was really intense the way he set it up. Not to mention, he’s done Oscar-nominated work on Slumdog Millionare and 127 Hours. Any man who can make a story intense about a man trapped under a rock the ENTIRE time is kind of a genius. Also, he clearly knows how to cast movies really well, and I would trust him entirely with choosing the CF cast. Fingers crossed he sticks with his theme of casting Cillian Murphy, and he throws him in there somewhere! Plus, we already know he works well with the screenwriter for CF, Simon Beaufoy. They last worked together on Slumdog Millionare which took home EIGHT Oscars… including best picture, best director, and best screenplay. They’re obviously a force to be reckoned with. Maybe Danny Boyle will take a pay cut to be able to work with Beaufoy again.

Crystal – Joss Whedon

I’ve seen a bunch of names tossed out there in the last 12 hours, but the one that made me gasp in anticipation was Joss Whedon. A fantastic writer and proven blockbuster director, Joss would be my ideal replacement for Gary. He’s worked with both big budgets and large ensemble casts (Avengers), he’s done dystopian that addresses serious moral and emotional issues (Dollhouse), is well versed and experienced with sci-fi (Firefly/Serenity), and Lionsgate already has a relationship with him, having just recently rescued Cabin in the Woods (out this Friday), which he wrote, from MGM’s bankruptcy. And funnily enough, though not relevant, he’s got a ton of experience with having Fox breathing down his neck. He’s such an amazing writer that I feel like he’d be able to work out a finalized script that’s phenomenal, even given the time constraints. I think he’d be able to convey all the emotion of the story and has proven more than capable of doing action as well. He’s said he’s not interested, but I still think he could be convinced. He says he loved the books!

Kimmy – Joe Wright

My favorite pick for the director of ‘Catching Fire’ is Joe Wright. He’s the director of Hanna, Pride & Prejudice, and Atonement! I just love the look of all of his films, they are all gorgeous, plus he has proven in his work on those movies that he can handle the subject matter. Hanna had an underage girl dealing with hand-to-hand combat and tons of violence, while Pride and Prejudice & Atonement prove he can work wonders with complex romance story lines. Most of the films he’s made (besides Hanna) are adaptions of much-loved books too, so he has that under his belt. The one issue is that I’m not sure he’d be the type to direct an American franchise film, it would be a very different choice for him. However, he’s shown through his previous picks of films that he likes to change it up, so who knows! I think he’d be a terrific choice.

Read on for more staff picks!

Erin – Joe Wright

If I could pick any director, anyone at all, I would want Peter Jackson to direct ‘Catching Fire’. His adaptation of Lord of the Rings from books to movies was more than I could have ever hoped for– what was cut wasn’t missed (too much) and what was added only enhanced the stories. However, I know that there is an absolute zero chance of him signing on (and not only because he’s in the middle of working on ‘The Hobbit’). So, realistically, I’ll put my vote in for Joe Wright. He not only directed the 2005 “Pride & Prejudice” (with Keira Knightly), which was a phenomenal book-to-movie adaptation, but he also directed ‘Hanna’ (with Saoirse Ronan). He’s proven that he can direct both romance and action, and that he can be sensitive to the original story without making drastic and unreasonable plot changes. Based on his portrayal of the iconic love story of Elizabeth Bennett and Mr. Darcy and how he handled the child assassin Hanna’s journey of self-discovery, I believe Joe Wright would bring a very unique and exciting vision of ‘Catching Fire’ to the director’s chair.

Sarah – Alfonso Cuaron

I would really love Alfonso Cuaron to direct ‘Catching Fire’. He has previous knowledge of how to handle a huge franchise (Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Askaban) and his cinematography is always fantastic. The third in the Potter series which was directed by Cuaron is very visually stunning, and placing him at the helm of ‘Catching Fire’ would be great as Gary Ross has already very much established this in The Hunger Games’ abundance of lush nature shots. Cuaron also has much experience in book-to-film adaptations, and some argue that the third Potter was the most true to the essence of the books. But more importantly he understands what it takes to make a film really encapsulate the essence of the book to which he is referencing. He knows how to make a big budget film seem personal and tangible to the audience also, which I feel is important… especially when taking on an adaptation of a book which is written in first person. He has proven that he can work across many different genres and is incredibly skilled at placing his audiences right in the middle of perilous action sequences (‘Children of Men’). Curaron is also known to work very closely with the author of the source material when adapting for film, and so if he also established this with Suzanne we could well have a winner on our hands. Given his work to date, I feel that Cuaron could bring an exciting and very accurate portrayal of ‘Catching Fire’ to audiences, which is filled with the emotion and violence so artistically written by Collins.