Nina Jacobson

Director Gary Ross Explains Why The Hunger Games Will Be PG-13

Back before Seabiscuit director Gary Ross was announced as the director of the adaptation of Suzanne Collins' best-selling novel The Hunger Games, Lionsgate decided on a PG-13 rating for the violent story, which sees a teenager named Katniss fight to win the Hunger Games, a televised contest where 24 players fight to the death until only one survives. While the decision didn't satisfy some fans, Ross explained to EW why The Hunger Games will forgo a R Rating.

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.

• The Hunger Games
• Gary Ross
• Suzanne Collins
• Nina Jacobson

The Hunger Games Looks for a Director; Opts for a PG-13 Rating

Now that Mockingjay — the third and final book in Suzanne Collins' bestselling Hunger Games trilogy — has been published, fans have turned their attention to the in-progress adaptation of the first book, The Hunger Games.

Movie studio Lionsgate has opted for a PG-13 rating for the dystopian story, which should just about be doable. Fans of the book will recall main character Katniss's involvement in the televised Hunger Games, which saw 24 contestants in a fight to the death. There can only be one winner in Collins's brutal story of war, which made for an action-packed but violent read.

• The Hunger Games
• Billy Ray
• Suzanne Collins
• Nina Jacobson