[Update: Deadline is now reporting that their studio sources are claiming that Gary Ross is not leaving the series just yet. Negotiations do not seem to be over just yet, so no official word has come about Ross's status on the sequel. I'd say take both options with a grain of salt and, eventually, the truth will out.]

Looks like the word was true. After weeks of negotiations, Gary Ross will not be directing the Hunger Games sequel Catching Fire. I, along with many other film writers, assumed that the issue was mostly about money, as the man would certainly be entitled to ask for more money for a sequel, given the massive successes of The Hunger Games. However, the real issue appears a lot less cut and dry than that.

Sources for IndieWire state that Ross was really just not terribly interested in spending another couple of years making more Hunger Games movies, as he's certainly a filmmaker that likes varying his projects. Hell, look at his IMDB. He's been involved with many different sorts of pictures, so it's not too far out of the realm of possibility that he just didn't really want to make a sequel, that he'd rather move ahead on something else. 

Regardless of the man's motivations, we'll likely be seeing a lot of names thrown around in the next month as Summit scrambles to get a new man in the director's chair to make that November 2013 release date. 

[Via Indiewire]