"Recently, Suzanne Collins, [screenwriter] Simon Beaufoy and I spent a wonderful week talking about it, shaking the story around and discussing the challenges of the adaptation and having ideas together."
As to the appeal of the second chapter, he enthused, "It's the emergence of Katniss into a great role. I mean, it's the emergence of a leader and what happens when you've been called; when the world is expecting you to adopt the mantle of their hopes in this entire revolution. What does that do to you? What is that responsibility? So it's about a girl growing up and having to assume the mantle of something that she never chose, but which has been thrust upon her. That's just a really interesting journey, and I'm really looking forward to exploring that."
A key element of the sequel's potential success, according to Ross, is Beaufoy, whose screenwriting credits include The Full Monty, Slumdog Millionaire (which won a Golden Globe for Best Screenplay and an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay) and 127 Hours.
"I've been a fan of Simon's for a long time," Ross explained. "He's obviously an incredibly respected writer. I love what he did with 127 Hours, where he was able to sustain the narrative and tension in a situation where a guy is basically stuck to a rock — it's a remarkable thing he was able to do. And when I spoke to him about Catching Fire, he had such a clear take on the material; a clear take on how it distinguished itself from The Hunger Games, and I got very excited about the conversation and the thought of Catching Fire in its own right.
"Catching Fire represents the beginning of a revolution," Ross concluded, "whereas in The Hunger Games, Katniss is much more a victim of an oppressive society. What we did in the first story is really kind of unintended in that it serves as the spark that ignites this revolt in the second. So by virtue of that, it's a very different story and therefore will result in a different approach."
The search for a replacement for Ross has reportedly begun.