In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Seabiscuit director Gary Ross talks quite a bit about his upcoming adaptation of Suzanne Collins’ young adult novel The Hunger Games. The novel centers on a 16-year-old girl, Katniss Everdeen, who competes in a fight to death with several other children picked from a dystopian United States’ twelve districts, the winner receiving food for their district. 
The bestseller – one in a ongoing series – is wildly popular at the moment, and Ross has confirmed that his film will be PG-13:
It’s not going to be an R-rated movie because I want the 12- and 13- and 14-year-old-fans to be able to go see it. This book means too much to too many teenagers for it not to be PG-13. It’s their story and they deserve to be able to access it completely. And I don’t think it needs to be more extreme than that. I don’t need to have a huge prosthetic budget or make this movie incredibly bloody in order for it to be just as compelling, just as scary, and just as riveting.
Which means it’s likely to be less graphically violent than this impressive fan-made film. When asked about the rumored $60 million budget (mid-range for this day and age), Ross would only say this:
I’m not allowed to confirm the budget number, but I will say it’s enough money to make the movie well and not disappoint a single fan. It’s a lot less money than a lot of other franchises or tentpoles of the same stature. But I don’t mind budget constraints. Sometimes they can provide creative solutions that are often better than what you would’ve had if you hadn’t had to think it through so rigorously.
Producer Nina Jacobsen talked about casting the project (Megan Fox is a fan favorite):
“I don’t think she should be famous,” says Jacobson. “I think that fans want Katniss to belong to them and I understand that. And I think that sometimes with people who have a strong other identity — as a celebrity or as a well known other character — you feel like that person doesn’t belong to you and I think that’s what fans are looking for.”
A bleak-ish near-future dystopian Thunderdome-like combat among teenagers for food is something of a departure for Ross, who wrote the Capra-esque feel-good comedies Dave and Big, and while he was drawn to the project after hearing his twin daughters rave about the book, I suspect the Pleasantville writer-director wanted to explore something well outside his usual wheelhouse. Sounds like an interesting project – a franchise that could potentially compete with Twilight (which would be good for all of humanity, really).
Are you a fan of The Hunger Games? What do you think of Ross’ approach?