Background
Ross is the son of Gail and Arthur A. Ross, the latter of whom was an Oscar-nominated screenwriter (Brubaker).
Ross is the son of Gail and Arthur A. Ross, the latter of whom was an Oscar-nominated screenwriter (Brubaker).
He attended (though did not graduate from) the University of Pennsylvania, worked as a fisherman, worked on Ted Kennedy"s 1980 Presidential campaign, consulted on both Michael Dukakis"s and Bill Clinton"s Presidential campaigns, and wrote a novel before being hired to write screenplays for Paramount Pictures.
He directed the film The Hunger Games, as well as Pleasantville and the Best Picture nominated Seabiscuit. Big was his first produced screenplay. He went on to write several other successful films, including Dave in 1993.
In 1998, he wrote and directed Pleasantville, and in 2003, he wrote, directed and produced Seabiscuit, based on Seabiscuit: An American Legend by Laura Hillenbrand.
The film earned seven Academy Award nominations. Ross took on the high-profile project of co-adapting and directing the film adaptation of the first book in Suzanne Collins" Hunger Games trilogy.
The film was released on March 23, 2012, and earned $672,826,249 worldwide as of June 2012. Although the movie was financially and critically successful, Ross opted to not adapt or direct the sequels, citing the rushed production schedule as his main reason.
His first book, Bartholomew Biddle and the Very Big Wind, was published by Candlewick Press in 2012.
A children"s book, it is written completely in verse. In August 2012, Gary Ross was announced as the director of the upcoming film adaption of the novel Peter and the Starcatchers, by Walt Disney Pictures.