Steven Soderbergh directing HUNGER GAMES second unit

Steven Soderbergh is directing the second unit of The Hunger Games, The Playlist reports. Recently the Contagion director has been seen on the set of the feature adaptation of the young adult novel by Gary Ross. Production designer, Eddie Mils tweeted, “Soderbergh in the house this weekend!!! very exciting!” Another tweet came from electrician Chrys Blackstone, who posted, “Holy shit! Just found out that Steven Soderbergh is coming to the #hungergames to direct 2nd Unit. I am so excited this is getting good!”

This may sound odd to some, but apparently Ross and Soderbergh have been friends for years. Soderbergh produced Pleasantville, while Ross has often taken a look at Soderbergh’s scripts. Phil Messina, a production designer on Hunger Games who has also worked on Soderbergh’s Erin Brockovich, Traffic, Solaris, The Good German, Che: Part Two and the ‘Ocean’s’ trilogy. Playlist reports that Ross merely had to assk Soderbergh to come aboard.

Hunger Games is scheduled to arrive theaters in only seven months, so having a veteran director on board is a smart move. Soderbergh has been noted to work at a superhuman pace. Here is what Matt Damon had to say about Soderberghs work ethic on Contagion. Damon said, “Steven would have his headphones on, sitting at his laptop. And in about 20 minutes he’d cut together the day’s work. ‘OK,’ he’d say, pull his headphones off and turn the computer around and show us, right there, what we’d shot that day and how it would look on the big screen when the movie comes out. THAT FAST. He’s a FREAK."

The Hunger Games opens on March 23, 2012.