Director Gary Ross Reflects On 'The Hunger Games' 10-Year Anniversary

Director Gary Ross directed the first film in “The Hunger Games” franchise. The young adult dystopian franchise spawned four movies out of the Suzanne Collins book trilogy of the same name.

The film starred a cast of Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Woody Harrelson, and Elizabeth Banks. There were also notable appearances from stars like Lenny Kravitz, Stanley Tucci, and Donald Sutherland.

The first film held its Los Angeles premiere on March 12, 2022, and saw a theatrical release on March 23, 2012, meaning that the film is quickly approaching its official 10-year anniversary. At the time of its release, the film’s opening weekend grossed $152.5 million, which was the third-largest of any film in North America at the time.

In a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Ross reflected on bringing the book trilogy to the silver screen.

When asked how “The Hunger Games” first landed on his radar, Ross explained that “I had heard about the book from my kids.”

“They were riveted when they read it, so I knew about it already. My agent told me they were making a movie of it so I started reading around ten o’clock one night and finished without stopping,” he explained. “Then I called her the next morning, telling her that I wanted to do it.”

He added that, “One thing I found fascinating was how steeped she [Suzanne Collins] was in Roman history and how much of this came from the Roman Arena and how she was informed by that. She was exploring how a culture devolves into spectacle and Rome was her starting point, I found that really interesting.”

Although “The Hunger Games” might have thrust several stars, like Jennifer Lawrence, into the spotlight, Ross admitted that he already knew who he wanted to play the key characters before the auditions.

“Honestly, I had a real sense of who I wanted before the auditions but because it was a huge franchise the studio wanted everyone to read which was fine,” he revealed. “It was fun actually. Jennifer blew the doors off the place. Josh was pitch-perfect. I had no idea that Liam wasn’t American until I talked to him when the reading was over. They were all just great. These were honestly easy decisions for me.”

He also revealed how he got Stanley Tucci on board for the film. “I had just worked with Stanley on an animated movie and I happened to be seated near him at an Italian restaurant on New Year’s Eve,” he explained. “I said ‘Stanley I have a great part for you I think.’ He said ‘terrific I’ll do it.’ I said, ‘don’t you want to know what it is?’ He said, “Nah I trust you.’ He was kidding, of course, but he’s a wonderfully enthusiastic fellow.”

Ross also dished that, “Woody actually passed on the part at first and I had to call him up to talk him into it. He still thanks me all the time, when really, I should be thanking him — he was so great in the role.”

He also added a few more on how Donald Sutherland landed his role as President Snow. “With Donald — and it’s a pretty well-known story by now — he wrote me a letter eloquently stating what his character meant to the narrative,” he recalled. “I was so knocked out by it I said, ‘Well s---, that has to be in the movie.’ We were shooting by a lake and I took a folding chair down to the water and wrote two scenes immediately, informed by that letter. They’re both in the final film pretty much unchanged.”

Given the state of affairs in the world today, Ross said, “I think sadly the themes in this movie are only more resonant now than when we made it. When Donald talks about manipulating the masses through false hope, it’s more chilling now than it was then. The carnival/reality-show version of truth that ultimately crumbles around them is actually pretty prescient.”

One of the saddest moments of the first film comes when Rue, played by Amandla Stenberg, was killed in the Games and serves as the catalyst for Katniss to rebel. Ross revealed that both he and Jennifer Lawrence talked about that scene “a lot.”

“I really wanted the film to pause at that moment and honor this girl — to observe her life,” he continued. “And by interrupting the rhythm of the movie and pausing to observe this memorial you are saying something about the value of a human life. It’s not a game and we will stop this game in order to honor her.”