Movies
‘Hunger Games’ Sequel: Could Cronenberg Be ‘Catching Fire’?
Ok, let’s just say that for the sake of argument, you were annoyed that we covered Lionsgate’s The Hunger Games. Would have bothered you if, let’s say, David Cronenberg directed it?
The LA Times is reporting that now that Lionsgate and Hunger Games director Gary Ross have parted ways, the studio has been quickly cobbling together a list of directors who would fit their criteria.
The master list is seven or eight names long, all men, and all have some significant credits to their name. Lionsgate is basically hoping to re-create the Harry Potter moment when Warner Bros. brought Alfonso Cuaron to direct the third film in the series. In fact, Cuaron is in the mix for Catching Fire, along with David Cronenberg (The Fly, The Brood, Videodrome) and Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu (Babel), among others.
The studio wants to get the sequel, Catching Fire, into production by August, and the task will require someone who can wrangle a large ensemble of actors, juggle the demands of a swift schedule and collaborate on a script with Suzanne Collins and writer Simon Beaufoy.
Lionsgate’s The Hunger Games, which echoes Running Man and Battle Royale, is nearing $500 million worldwide.
Exclusives
‘Los Vampires’ Trailer Gives Deadly Twist on the Production of 1931’s Spanish ‘Dracula’ [Fantasia 2026]
The production of George Melford‘s 1931 Spanish Dracula sets the stage for murder in the period horror movie Los Vampires, and we’re exclusively premiering the trailer ahead of its festival debut.
Los Vampires will make its World Premiere at the 30th edition of the Fantasia International Film Festival, which runs July 16 through August 2.
Watch the stunning new trailer below, which sees art imitate life horrifically, in the vein of Shadow of the Vampire.
The film is set in 1930 Hollywood, and follows as “a Spanish actor is cast in the night shoot of a soon-to-be-legendary vampire film, forced to imitate the English-speaking star who performs the same role by day. The two actors regularly meet at the transitory hours of their shoots, and a rivalry stirs between them. All the while, a string of murders are occurring on and around the soundstage.”
Note that the actor and star in the film’s premise aren’t named; Los Vampires is a “fantastical fictionalized account” of the making of Melford’s classic horror film, one that was shot overnight on the same sets as Tod Browning’s Dracula. That means that names have respectfully been altered.
Los Vampires is written and directed by Craig Mitchell (Komodo), who has lined up an impressive cast.
Lost actor Henry Ian Cusick and Spectre actor Thomas Kretschmann lead as uncanny surrogates for Carlos Villarías and Bela Lugosi.
Daniela Couso (Serial Beauty), Jefferson Mays (Inherent Vice), Oscar Nuñez (“The Office”), and Jorge Diaz (Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones) round out the cast.
Fantasia describes the feature as “a meticulously designed, occult-tinged tribute to the dignity of performance… and a darkly imaginative, bittersweet love letter to old Hollywood – and the forgotten struggles that made it what it was.”
Stay tuned for more on Los Vampires, including premiere timing, as Fantasia gets underway next month.
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