Hunger Games The Movie

For those of you that work with me or have talked books with me at anytime recently, you know of my love of the Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins. Many of you even love them right along with me. If you haven't given it a look, you should. It's a fantastic sci-fi/fantasy, dystopian future set teen series! Hey now, don't grumble at the teen part, there are some excellent works out there mixed in with the likes of the Clique series and vampire hysteria latch-on novels! Stephen King even gave it props. 

Naturally, with the success of Twilight and other teen books gone to film, the rights for Hunger Games were bought by Lionsgate in spring last year and now rumors of directors are floating around.  Thanks to my friend Steve who posted this to a friend on Facebook- although not to me >:( - , there are some high (and low) contenders in talks. Check it out here!

Of those three, I'm rooting for Slade or Mendes, in that order.  

Slade is awesome! I loved Hard Candy- which was essentially two actors and a house, but full of great tension & drama! Plus, he's done 30 Days of Night and now Eclipse, which means he's got the chops for some good action & gore/horror but knows what to expect in dealing with a teen-genre story. Additionally, he's directed videos for the likes of System of A Down, Stone Temple Pilots and Muse. He has a knack for dark material, such as The Hunger Games. I have not seen Eclipse (haven't found the time and booze enough yet), but as for the others, he's done solid work. Plus, he's a Brit, and that will nearly always score a point with me.
 
Now on to Mr. Mendes (also a Brit). Almost all his previous films have started as books, so he has that experience going for him. What I have seen of his work has been pretty solid and beautiful material as well.  Away We Go was great! And while Revolutionary Road's story left me wanting to slit my wrists after leaving the theater, my understanding of the book from others tells me he captured it's feel perfectly and there's no denying is was a good film.  And we've all seen American Beauty. Unfortunately I have yet to see Road to Perdition or Jarhead, which would give me an idea of how he handles action/violence, but they're in my Netflix queue!

Ross has not done a whole lot directorially (2 done (Seabiscuit and Pleasantville), 1 in production and 1 just announced according to IMDb). He's more a producer and even that list doesn't seem to lend much experience to a project like this. Of what he's directed, none have the action and spectacle that, in my opinion, this series would require. Also, all his directed films have been period pieces, none present or future set (well Pleasantville was partially present, but that was back in 1998).

So this is my petition to the Universe/Powers-That-Be/what have you; Slade for Director (at least of those mentioned)!  Mendes is an very acceptable 2nd.  If Ross gets it, my expectations for a decent film translation drop exponentially.