Billy Ray – the guy who was entrusted with adapting Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games, along with the latest installment, Sunrise on the Reaping, and other movies, like Captain Phillips, and that Nicole Kidman AMC ad – just created a dystopian novel of his own, Burn The Water. On behalf of CinemaBlend, the screenwriter spoke with us about who and what influenced him to become a YA novelist in his own right for the first time.
Billy Ray told me he first thought of Burn The Water, his futuristic take on Romeo & Juliet, years before The Hunger Games, first as a too-expensive movie idea that was shelved. That is, until he had time on his hands during the 2023 WGA Strikes. As he shared, of course, he had to get Suzanne Collins’ feedback on an early draft. In his words:
