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Video: Gary Ross Not Returning For Hunger Games Sequel - Find Out Why

Lauren Bradshaw — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 11:23:20 PDT

The Hunger Games has been a huge success, topping the box office for three straight weeks - so then why is Gary Ross jumping ship? The movie's director announced in a statement last night that he will not be returning for the film's sequel, Catching Fire. Find out the reason behind Gary's departure, and see what one of the film's stars has to say about the news in PopSugar Rush.

The Hunger Games Director Gary Ross Drops Out For Sequel

Shannon Vestal — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 08:28:00 PDT

The Hunger Games may be the megahit of the season, but the sequel, Catching Fire, won't be working with the exact same recipe for success. Gary Ross has decided not to direct the follow-up to The Hunger Games, saying, "As a writer and a director, I simply don't have the time I need to write and prep the movie I would have wanted to make because of the fixed and tight production schedule." It was rumored that Ross might be out last week, but now that it's official, I'm wondering who will take on the helming duty. Who would you want to see in the director's chair for Catching Fire?

Gary Ross Recalls Being "Knocked Out" by the Hunger Games Scene Jennifer Lawrence Auditioned With

Lindsay Miller — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 01:42:27 PDT

Director Gary Ross is already getting overwhelmingly positive reviews for his big-screen interpretation of The Hunger Games, and when we spoke with him at a recent press day in Beverly Hills, he told us his vision of his film fell into place when he saw Jennifer Lawrence audition and was "transformed." He reflected on the scene she so impressed him with and also shared some stories about working with his kids - both of whom were big fans of the book - on set. We also asked Gary to talk about making the tough decisions about storylines from the text that wouldn't make it to the big screen. Check out our interview and see The Hunger Games in theaters on March 23!

Jennifer Lawrence and Her Hunger Games Guys Share Big Production Secrets

Allie Merriam — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 11:37:21 PST

Jennifer Lawrence and her costars from The Hunger Games, Liam Hemsworth and Josh Hutcherson, are on the cover of this week's The Hollywood Reporter. Along with their blockbuster's director, Gary Ross, the actors shared some of the secrets behind their much-anticipated movie. They dished on Hunger Games production details like what the stars got paid, how long they're contracted for, and which actresses were also in the running to play Katniss Everdeen. Gary dished out praise for Jennifer, who revealed that she had a tough time deciding to take the role. Liam also shared some advice given to him by his action star brother, Chris Hemsworth. Highlights from The Hunger Games interview include:

Jennifer on deciding to take the potentially life-changing role: "It was the middle of the night in England, and I was in bed when I got the call. And I was so in love with the books and the script, and suddenly it was right in my face - and the size of the decision was terrifying. . . I called my mom and she called me a hypocrite, because when I was doing indie movies and everyone was asking why I didn’t do studio movies, I said, 'The size of the movie doesn’t matter.' And she said, 'Here’s a movie you love and you were thinking of turning it down because of its size.' I thought, 'I don’t want to miss out because I’m scared. Me being scared, I never want that to stop me from doing something.' But I knew in my heart that I wanted it - it was about working out all the fears."
Liam on getting diet advice from his brother Chris: "My brother Chris texted me before shooting and told me to lose weight. He said, 'It's called The Hunger Games, not The Eating Games!'"
Gary on Jennifer's acting: "There's such a power and a truth to her acting. She has absolute, total control over what she's doing. I've never worked with anyone more talented than her - ever. A talent like this comes once in a generation."

Buzz News Roundup, 7/10

BuzzSugar — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 13:30:35 PDT

Ryan Seacrest is close to a deal that would bring him back as American Idol host with a significant raise. - The Hollywood Reporter
Zooey Deschanel is joining James Franco and Natalie Portman in the comedy Your Highness. She will play Belladonna, Franco's virginal bride. - ComingSoon
Brooke Shields, Dick Van Dyke, Ken Jeong, and Samantha Bee have come aboard the live-action family comedy Furry Vengeance. - The Hollywood Reporter
Here are some new characters coming to Ugly Betty in the Fall. - TV Guide
And here are a couple of new roles on Big Love. - Entertainment Weekly
BBC Films has acquired the bestselling Chris Cleave novel Little Bee, and Nicole Kidman has attached herself as star and producer. - Variety
Gary Ross, who directed Tobey Maguire in Seabiscuit and Pleasantville, will rewrite the script for Spider-Man 4. - ComingSoon
I Am Legend director Francis Lawrence may be reuniting with Will Smith for a fantastical drama titled The City That Sailed. - The Hollywood Reporter

Photo courtesy of Fox

Buzz News Roundup, 6/12

BuzzSugar — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 13:00:58 PDT

The next James Bond movie has gotten Frost/Nixon writer Peter Morgan to co-write the script, and Daniel Craig is confirmed to reprise his role as Bond. Variety
SPIN magazine is celebrating the 25th anniversary of Prince's Purple Rain with a free downloadable tribute that features nine bands doing covers of the record's classic tracks. - Billboard
Michael Cunningham, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Hours, has written a scary genre thriller titled Beautiful Girl. - Variety
It looks like the Lance Armstrong biopic finally has a writer: Seabiscuit writer/director Gary Ross. - ComingSoon
TV stations across the US started cutting their analog signals this morning, and the FCC has put 4,000 operators on standby for calls from confused viewers. - The Hollywood Reporter
Slumdog Millionaire director Danny Boyle has signed a three-year producing pact with Fox Searchlight. - Variety
J.J. Abrams says he will be producing the fourth Mission: Impossible film and that he and Tom Cruise "have come up with a really cool idea." - ComingSoon
The View co-host Joy Behar will host The Joy Behar Show, a one-hour primetime talk show, on HLN (formerly Headline News). - The Hollywood Reporter

Photo courtesy of Sony Pictures

Tobey Maguire Set for Drama About Landmark Civil Rights Case

BuzzSugar — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 15:30:59 PDT

Spider-Man 3 is in the news this week as The Dark Knight surpasses its record-breaking opening weekend but that doesn't mean the star of the superhero franchise is slowing down. Tobey Maguire is set to star in a drama titled The Crusaders about the historic Brown v. Board of Education case. According to Variety:

Maguire would play Jack Greenberg, who, as an idealistic lawyer fresh out of law school, joined with NAACP Legal Defense Fund head and future Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall to win a Supreme Court case that ruled segregation in American schools illegal.

Besides Maguire, there's some interesting behind-the-scenes talent involved as well. Gary Ross, who's worked with Maguire before on Pleasantville and Seabiscuit will direct and the writer of the recent HBO film Recount, Jay Roach, is working on the movie's script. It's been a while since I've seen a powerful, well-done drama about the civil rights movement and I'll be curious to watch this project unfold.

Are you glad to see Maguire getting back to his dramatic pre-Spidey roots?

Source

"On the Lot": Five Ford Commercials ... Er, Road Films

BuzzSugar — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 09:33:42 PDT

I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that this week's "On the Lot" was sponsored even more generously than usual by Ford. The five remaining directors all made films about the wonders of the open road - and, it would seem, the wonder of driving Ford vehicles on it. At one point, Adrianna Costa even stood like a showroom model next to one giant SUV, just in case we weren't getting the message.

Before we could get to the "road films," we had to see who was going to be eliminated after last week's comedies. Adrianna told the gang that Zach and Andrew had the fewest votes, but Zach just barely nosed ahead out to stay in the competition. Jason, meanwhile, won the box office tally again; as a reward, he got to work with Jerry O'Connell this week. Hmmm ... blessing or curse?

This week's guest judge was Gary Ross of Seabiscuit. The other Garry was mysteriously absent, but his sister Penny filled in instead, showing that babbling runs in the family. As for the five new films:

Adam started off the night with Driving Under the Influence, about a car stereo that makes people dance against their will. I think Adam's really at his best when he does things with dancing, for whatever reason, though I thought the ending was ridiculous. Carrie agreed that Adam rocks at the dancing, Gary thought it worked, and Penny was about as coherent as Garry typically is.
Sam came next with Backseat Driving Test, about a young man whose mother is an insufferable backseat driver. She gets sent to backseat driving rehab, which seems to consist mostly of being driven around a course at high speed with dust flying everywhere. It was a lot of driving effects and not a lot else, in my opinion. Carrie said it was Sam's best movie, while Gary was impressed with the effects and Penny smiled a lot.

Three more, so

Zach apparently wants to get kicked off, because he came back from his near-elimination with a sequel to the film that almost did him in, Bonus Feature 2. It did have something more of a story than last week's, it's true, but I also would never classify it as a "road movie," thus putting him into some dangerous Marty Martin-esque territory. Carrie said it was better than last week's and babbled some stuff about Zach being extraordinary, Gary thought it was good storytelling, and Penny said Zach took the notes from last week and came back with a better film.
Jason got the prize of putting Jerry O'Connell in his film, The Move. I'm kind of confused; it was either about a guy moving or about a prank Jerry O'Connell's character played on a friend, and I'm honestly not sure which. Carrie was confused too, Gary said it was well shot but the big reveal at the end made no sense, and Penny may or may not have made a racist comment about Asian people(?).
Will finished things off with Road Rage 101, about a guy who beats up on his car while he's stuck in traffic - until the car starts to fight back. Fox is clearly hammering on Will being the sentimental favorite, as his intro package again mentioned that this is Will's last chance in film, but this was not one of his best. Carrie mostly praised Will's earlier work, Gary was impressed with some of the technical stuff but wished we'd learned more about the character of the car, and Penny said she didn't understand why the guy was so mad at the car in the first place.

Judges' favorites: Gary and Carrie picked Adam's, while Penny picked Sam's.

As for me, I'd put Adam at the top of my list, while Jason and Zach were my least favorites. I would think Jason would be the one heading home, but whichever cross-section of America still watches this show seems to love him. Thoughts?

Photo courtesy of Fox

Robert Pattinson Lands a Big New Role

Allie Merriam — Thu, 03 May 2012 07:43:00 PDT

Robert Pattinson lands a huge action role - HuffPost Entertainment
Jennifer Lopez taps one of her favorite designers for her Summer tour - People
Benedict Cumberbatch thrills his lady fans while promoting new Sherlock - Lainey Gossip
Kim Kardashian takes Scott Disick's chrome car for a spin - TooFab
Kate Middleton seen shopping - at an outlet! - Us Weekly
- The Daily Beast
What's next for Hunger Games director Gary Ross? - Hollywood Reporter
Ke$ha scores a big magazine cover - BuzzFeed
The latest from Revenge - ET
Tom Cruise is at the top of the movie rentals list this week - Rotten Tomatoes
Mario Lopez is blessed to be a dad - Wonderwall
Michael Sheen has a racy new series possibly on Showtime - Lifeline Live
Ashton Kutcher deals with his latest scandal - Zap2It
Are Brad and Angelina buying an estate in England? - Celebitchy

Francis Lawrence Will Direct The Hunger Games Sequel Catching Fire

Shannon Vestal — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 08:30:29 PDT

The hunt has been on for a new director for the sequel to The Hunger Games ever since Gary Ross dropped out, and now Lionsgate has found a replacement. Francis Lawrence will direct Catching Fire, which is set to be released in November of 2013. Lawrence, who has directed I Am Legend and Water for Elephants, has a challenge ahead of him, considering the tight schedule of the production and the elements of Catching Fire, but I'm excited to see what he can do. What do you think about this latest Hunger Games development?