It's recently come to light that screenwriter, playwright and novelist William Nicholson turned down the chance to adapt Catching Fire into a screenplay as he didn't think the source text was "good enough".
Considering the popularity of the novel it's a surprise that Nicholson didn't want to be involved in the film franchise, although it's quite refreshing that he chose not to because of his personal opinion of the book rather than getting involved with the project for commercial reasons.
He further explained that he thought that the Catching Fire novel "repeats itself". This is perhaps a fair observation on the surface, with Katniss and Peeta visiting numerous districts on their Victory Tour before re-entering the arena, however, as a fan, I think it's the most captivating novel of the series.
With Katniss' realisation that people are relying on her to lead the rebellion, and her terror at being thrown back into the clutches of the Capitol in the arena, the progression of the narrative correlates with Katniss' discomfort at being thrust into her leadership role and more often than not it leaves the audience on tenterhooks as President Snow is more determined to have her killed than ever.
The story explores new ideas as, unlike before, Katniss and Peeta now have allies and it has become clear that they're no longer fighting for survival in the arena, but rather for the future of the Districts.
Nicholson's rejection of the offer is also rumoured to be related to apparent similarities between 'The Hunger Games' and his own children's series, the 'Wind on Fire' trilogy. He made the stark remark that 'The Hunger Games' is "in a way much more compelling as a sort of story than mine, but it's not as interesting and it doesn't really work."
Whilst Nicholson's comments may be quite cutting towards the franchise, his loss was our gain as Simon Beaufoy and Michael Arndt did an astounding job at transitioning Suzanne Collins' tale from book to screen.
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