Ross wasn’t an obvious choice to helm the dystopian fantasy, the first from a series of bestselling books about a 16-year-old girl forced to compete to the death in a cruel arena game. His prior films as director are the 2003 horse-racing drama “Seabiscuit” and the arch 1998 comedy “Pleasantville.” But when Ross met with Lionsgate for the first time, he brought a persuasive piece of video — interviews he’d shot of his kids’ friends explaining why the books mattered to them, and what they loved about the series’ heroine, Katniss Everdeen.
“What was amazing was how insightful these kids were about this book and about Katniss as a character,” says producer Nina Jacobson. “It was so clear that Gary was interested in what the fans cared about.”
Ross brought another unique virtue to the race, which at one point also included “Revolutionary Road’s” Sam Mendes and “The Twilight Saga: Eclipse” director David Slade. “In terms of his understanding of Katniss, he has twin teenage children who are a boy and girl,” says Jacobson. “I felt he understood the duality of her character. She’s not a traditional heroine in that frequently heroines are interested in love first and foremost and other things are secondary. That’s the least of her concerns. And yet, she is a girl. She’s not a boy in a dress. He seemed to understand her impulse toward self-preservation and the preservation of her family.”
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