‘The Hunger Games’ was a very good first film for a franchise by director Gary Ross, but unfortunately he won’t be reprising that role for the sequel. While this is definitely unfortunate news, it isn’t the first time a major franchise like this has switched directors after the first movie. And often times, a new director brings a new voice to the series and leads to an even better film. And who is to say a new director wouldn’t benefit ‘The Hunger Games’ franchise?

Here are nine excellent directors that we believe are perfect candidates to take over the franchise starting with its sequel ‘Catching Fire’ and our reasons why:

1) Neill Blomkamp

Here’s a perfect candidate to direct a sci-fi action franchise like this. Neill Blomkamp already more than proved himself with the excellent ‘District 9′ which shared the same ‘set in the near future’ setting, a grounded approach to sci-fi and similar thematic material with “The Hunger Games”. He’s in post-production with his next feature ‘Elysium’ at the moment, but he’s the guy who can not only direct excellent kinetic action scenes when the series requires it, but also have that touch of humanity and depth that not every director can. Plus, he can make a modestly budgeted film look like a billion dollar blockbuster. Consider that ‘District 9′ was shot for $30 million while ‘Transformers’ was $200 million.

2) Alfonso Cuarón

Anyone who has seen ‘Children of Men’ knows that it’s one of the most well-directed sci-fi dramas ever. Alfonso Cuarón is a director with tremendous amount of visual flair, especially when it comes to long breathtaking one-cut sequences that blow your mind away. Imagine the action scenes of ‘The Hunger Games’ in that format and you can clearly see why he could bring a lot of new elements to the table. Plus, he also has experience directing a young adult franchise after he delivered ‘Harry Potter & The Prisoner of Azkaban’ which was personally my favorite installment of the series. He could bring a lot in terms of stylish visuals as well as a strong command over theme and emotion which is what set ‘The Hunger Games’ apart from other wannabee franchises for me in the first place.

3) Duncan Jones

One of the most criminally underrated movies of recent times is Duncan Jones’ ‘Moon’ and it was a perfect example of a director handling a complex and daring screenplay with suitable finesse and at a strikingly low budget. He got a chance at the studio system with ‘Source Code’ that was also an exciting action movie that clicked with audiences and critics alike. I think a director like him will handle character development very well without skimping on the sci-fi elements of ‘Catching Fire’ and ‘Mockingjay’. But he’s unlikely to be a part of the franchise because he has quite a few original ideas he rather work on instead.

4) Joe Wright

Before Katniss came about this year, I would say that last year’s kickass female protoganist had to be Saoirse Ronan in ‘Hanna’ where she kicked major ass to say the least. Joe Wright proved that he can direct a Bourne-like action movie with the film and perfectly handled a well rounded female action heroine. Considering one of the themes of ‘The Hunger Games’ is female empowerment, it’s definitely right up the director’s alley especially considering that his previous work including ‘Pride & Prejudice’ and ‘Atonement’ are primarily from the point of views of a female protagonist. If he ends up directing the sequel, expect some very fast paced and beautifully edited action sequences that will be the highlight of the film.

5) David Slade

Normally I would never suggest a director from the wretched ‘Twilight’ series to come even a mile close to ‘The Hunger Games’, but the difference here is David Slade has two bad-ass feature films to his credit way before he took on ‘Eclipse’. He showed his flair with genre films with ’30 Days of Night’ and ‘Hard Candy’ and that’s the kind of style that could benefit the sequel ‘Catching Fire’. Besides, his ‘Twilight’ movie was by far the most male-oriented thanks to some effective action sequences that made you forget about the soap opera melodrama for the most part. With his experience of directing a big budget franchise coupled with the style and tone of his darker work, he could deliver a quite potent sequel.