It’s been a minute since we saw Katniss Everdeen fire her bow and arrow at oppression and lead a revolution against tyranny in The Hunger Games Trilogy. The movies made lead actress Jennifer Lawrence an even bigger star than she already was while pulling in dump trucks of money for everyone involved.
The Hunger Games, which lasted for four films (the last one was two parts), centers around a dystopian world called Panem where one youth from each of 12 districts must compete in a deadly fight to be the last one standing. The fatal competition is televised as a lively spectacle for people in the movie’s wealthy Capitol.
Gary Ross, who directed the first movie, recently reflected on the films’ legacy on the 10-year anniversary of the first film. One thing that comes to mind, he told The Hollywood Reporter, is that the themes of the film are more salient than ever.
“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. As Dr. King said: ‘No lie can live forever. Truth crushed to Earth shall rise again.'”
Ross dropped some other juicy tidbits in the interview as well. He was asked why he ultimately decided not to film the sequels, especially after the first movie was so ridiculously successful.
Well, it was a very hard decision. I think what people didn’t realize is that I had two jobs. I wrote and I directed, and you do one of those things before you do the other. There was honestly no time to do both well in the three-and-a half months between movies so I moved on. I got to make Free State of Jones which not many people saw but remains one of my favorite pieces of work so — all good.
A prequel called The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is currently in development with a working title of Butterfly.