A List Of Things Thrown Five Minutes Ago

NOT CATCHING A PAYCHECK: So, director/co-screenwriter Gary Ross, citing overly short prep time, will not be returning to Catching Fire.  With Lionsgate already having announced a release date of Thanksgiving 2013, and a hard start required in August due to Jennifer Lawrence's committment to X-Men First Class 2, there no way to push things back, and there's a finished script from Oscar winner Simon Beaufoy allegedly ready to go.  It's less than surprising, given that Ross has directed 3 films in 15 years (and easily could have had his pick of paycheck projects after the success of Seabiscuit).  I'd be intrigued to see them hand some reins over to Steven Soderbergh, who directed parts of the second unit for Hunger Games, but expect that they'll hand the reins over to a fairly bland journeyman who's shown ability to bring things in on time and under budget, which could be unfortunate.  There've been some interesting suggestions--Patty Jenkins (canned from Thor 2), Kathryn Bigelow (who can certainly do the action and psychological stuff), and Alfonso Cuaron (who elevated the Potter franchise).  Hopefully, they'll come up with someone interesting that gives us a film as solid as the first one was.