Update: Francis Lawrence to direct Catching Fire. I’m actually not sure how to feel about him as a director: Water for Elephants – not good.  I am Legend – solid. Constantine – one of my guilty pleasures; I end up watching it every time it’s on TV (Tilda Swinton as Gabriel is kind of genius).  Let’s write down Water for Elephants as a blip and hope for the best.

Now that Gary Ross has bowed out of the sequels, may I suggest Kathryn Bigelow? The Oscar-winning director of the gritty The Hurt Locker and the adrenaline-rush Point Break could ramp up the pulse-pounding visceral tension that Ross’ installment lacked. The Hurt Locker makes it clear that if anyone can show the lasting, damaging effects that war can have on people, it’s this woman. Given what Bigelow was able to do with Jeremy Renner’s character in that film, I think she’d be able to get us inside Katniss’ head (something that’s missing from Ross’ film), making us privy to the character’s self-doubt, ruthless survival instinct, and anguished decision-making. I also think she’d be willing to let Katniss be hard-edged and unappealing, because you can’t always be likable when you’re fighting to survive. Plus, it would be kind of awesome to have a trail-blazing woman direct the girl who was on fire.

Any other ideas about who should direct the upcoming films? Perhaps Paul Greengrass (The Bourne Supremacy and Ultimatum)?  Leave a Comment below to share your suggestions.

Note: To be sure I wasn’t influenced, I waited to read Entertainment Weekly’s post about possible new directors until after I wrote mine. Bigelow and Joss (yay!) are at the top of their list, but scheduling conflicts, blah blah blah. Oh well, we can always dream.