Late next week, Lionsgate will choose a director for The Hunger Games, a film adaptation of the first book in Suzanne Collins’ hit trilogy. There are three men in the running right now: Sam Mendes (American Beauty), Gary Ross (Seabiscuit), and David Slade (30 Days of Night).
According to Deadline, this book series is compared to the "Twilight" novels because of their appeal to teens and young adults. However, the series contains much darker thematic elements that involve teen gladiators and the United States being run by a totalitarian government. Mockingjay, the latest novel in the trilogy has sold more than 400,000 copies since debuting late last month.
Any of these directors seem like good choices to take on this film. Even so, Slade seems like the best as he is more familiar with action-oriented projects than the other two directors. On the other hand, he is also Fox's first choice to direct the second "Wolverine" film. He would likely not be able to do both without delaying one or both of those films, with "Wolverine 2" hoping to shoot early next year. Regardless of which director is chosen, though, this certainly sounds like an interesting project to follow.
