WILL DAVID CRONENBERG BE 'CATCHING FIRE' FOR 'THE HUNGER GAMES' FOLLOW-UP?

Now that 'The Hunger Games' director Gary Ross has officially left the director's chair for follow-up 'Catching Fire' Lionsgate is on the hunt for someone to fill the Ross sized gap and continue the success of the new series of movies based on the popular sci-fi novels by Suzanne Collins. The L.A. Times have named both Alfonso Cuaron ('Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban') and Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu ('Babel') as two potential helmers that may fit the bill. But more interestingly the name David Cronenberg has been thrown into the ring! That's right, director of classic horror flicks such as 'Rabid', 'The Fly', 'Videodrome' and 'eXistenZ' is apparently one of the director's being considered for the job. Cronenberg over the years has of course been noted to turn down major motion picture projects such as 'Top Gun' and 'RoboCop' to name a few and personally I can't see that he would want to suddenly turn his attentions to a big blockbuster franchise instead of working on his lower budgeted independent movies. But we shall see. 'Catching Fire' is set to go into production this August.

"The sequel to the 2008 bestseller continues the story of Katniss Everdeen and the fictional, futuristic nation of Panem. Due to the events of the previous novel, a rebellion against the ruling Capitol has begun, and Katniss and fellow tribute Peeta are forced to return to the arena in a special edition of The Hunger Games."

David Cronenberg