Hunger Games movie sequel Catching Fire uncertain for Gary Ross

The Hunger Games will likely hit $400 million at the global box office this weekend, but director Gary Ross is still not a dead cert for helming the sequel, despite its success critically and commercially. The Hollywood Reporter says that negotiations for the first film were difficult, and that the director doesn’t have a simple sequel options like the main actors – the studio is hoping to hit a November 2013 release date so it will be interesting to see how this develops. THR’s sources say that Ross’s return is likely – but studio franchises like this tend to go through other directors, a la Harry Potter and Twilight. We certainly believe that it was his creatire approach to the source material that made the film such a success, so fingers crossed he returns.