Director Francis Lawrence Talks about the Death of Philip Seymour Hoffman

In a recent report from USA Today, director Francis Lawrence has finally broken his silence in the passing of Philip Seymour Hoffman (Feb. 2, 2014), who held a very important role in Mockingjay movies. 

Philip Seymour Hoffman (L) with co-star Woody Harelsson

director Francis Lawrence

"It was obviously very rough for all of us," Lawrence tells USA TODAY. "He was a friend. He was an amazing actor, an iconic actor. He was someone I really looked up to."

"We shut down for a day to give people time to deal with the sudden shock of it all. And to try and sort of figure things out a little bit," says Lawrence.

"We as a cast and crew definitely honored him," says Lawrence. "We gathered everyone together and had a big moment for him. We still think about him every day. It's hard not to imagine him being here."

"It's something so sudden, so shocking," Lawrence adds.

Lawrence says Hoffman was "mostly finished" with his work on the Mockingjay set.

"There was very, very little that was left," says Lawrence. "Even if (Hoffman) had a number of days left, most of those moments were appearances in other scenes. Most of his dialogue was done."

Clearly, working with the loss of the key character will lead to some continued difficulties.

"We're still figuring some of that out," says Lawrence.

Read More

Director Francis Lawrence Reveals How He Got Philip Seymour Hoffman as Plutarch and other Cast in Catching Fire

Watch the video below (from MTV) or read the transcript about how director Francis Lawrence was able to convince award winning actor Philip Seymour Hoffman on board The Hunger Games: Catching Fire as head gamemaker Plutarch Heavensbee. Director Francis also talked about casting Johanna, Beetee, 

Get More:
Movie Trailers, Movies Blog

"We came up with the idea for Phil pretty early on," Lawrence said. "He was the biggest role to cast and the most important role for the entire series if you think in terms of new additions. He was the first one we went after, but he was in the middle of 'Death of a Salesman' and wasn't really interested in entertaining anything until he was kind of done and wrapped with that."

"We did a fair amount of invention with him and [President] Snow [Donald Sutherland], so these are scenes that could possibly have happened in the background," Lawrence said. "They're not deviations, they're additions to the book. Because it's an antagonist-driven story, it was really important to see the scenes between Snow and Plutarch and to see the two of them kind of plotting and maneuvering."

Read More

Video of the Facebook Live Chat of The Hunger Games: Catching Fire Cast

For those who missed the Facebook Live and Tumblr chat of our favorite Catching Fire cast, see the videos below:

Facebook Live Chat with Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth and director Francis Lawrence - https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10100818016909353



Global Fan Day photos (Instagram, Tumblr, Yahoo, and Google Plus) - https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.790145041002149.1073741838.159746560708670&type=1

Read More

Full Video Yahoo Global Fan Day Chat with Jennifer Lawrence and Francis Lawrence

Visit http://catchingupdates.tumblr.com/post/66268333290/full-yahoo-global-fan-day-fireside-chat for the full video of the Yahoo Global Fan Day Chat with Jennifer Lawrence and Francis Lawrence of The Hunger Games: Catching Fire.

For the Google hangout with international fans, visit this post to view the video.

Read More

Director Francis Lawrences Talks Love Triangle and CGI Effects in Catching Fire

In an interview with New York magazine, director Francis Lawrence opened up about the love triangle, shaky cam, and CGI effects of Catching Fire. Find out below:

Does Jennifer Lawrence still do the karate-running? She hated how she looked running before?
She said she always made this stupid face when she ran, and I had to specifically watch out to make sure she didn’t. So I was always checking. I would tell her, “You made the stupid face!”


Will you be using the shaky cam, like in the first movie?
No! [Laughs.] No shaky cam. I think a lot of people will be happy to hear that.


The first film skimped a little on showing us the strategy behind the Katniss-Peeta love story.
I felt the same. I felt the love story in general was, um, a bit buried in the first one. I wanted to bring the love story to the surface. And when I say love story, I mean the triangle.



Will this one have better CGI?
Uh, yeah. I think the effects are phenomenal. If you know the book, there’s a monkey-mutt attack, and Weta, who did Rise of the Planet of the Apes and King Kong, did the monkeys for us.

Read More

Empire Magazine Features The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

Lead actress Jennifer Lawrence and director Francis Lawrence were featured in the November 2013 issue of Empire Magazine. Read the excerpt from their interview below:

Jennifer on fame:

It’s hard to say you identify with someone who’s facing life and death and war,” she shared. “It’s not like, ‘Oh my God that’s, like, totally how I feel’.

“But there is the connection in that she doesn’t feel like just part of the town anymore. Now everyone treats her as a celebrity… Whereas she still feels like she’s part of them.”
 
“I get that a lot,” she admitted. “I’ll go to get a coffee where I always get coffee and all of a sudden there’s this weird mood, and I’m like, ‘Come on, I still get coffee here, just say hello’.”

Director Francis on the changes he made for Catching Fire

“I thought there was a real opportunity to open up the world … I didn’t get enough of a sense of place in the first movie. I thought we could grow visually because we were seeing more of the Districts, the Capitol and the whole arena.”

Jennifer on bringing on Francis

“I was consulted about who the new director would be, yes … but I’m not delusional. I’m sure that if I’d said I absolutely hated Francis they’d have hired him anyway… Fortunately I think Francis is the smartest decision any studio has ever made.”

Francis on the cast

“This cast all work incredibly hard … but if you had a scene with Jennifer, Josh and Woody Harrelson then it was pretty much a disaster. They would not keep a straight face.”

Jennifer on not getting bored playing Katniss

“I still love playing Katniss and am really looking forward to being her again. There’s honestly no part of it that I’m bored with…” she pauses for a second and then adds, mock-furiously, “Actually that’s not true. I am so bored with her braid. I keep asking, ‘Cant I just wear my hair differently?’ But they keep saying no.”

Read More

Director Francis Lawrence Reveals Changes for Catching Fire

In a recent interview with EW, director Francis Lawrence has revealed some changes that were made for the film adaptation of The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. Despite the changes, he said that the movie will still remain true to the book.

1) “We made some changes to Peeta’s narrative,” says Lawrence. “We manned him up a little. And by the way it didn’t take a lot, just little choices to make here and there. The story doesn’t really change, his relationship with Katniss doesn’t change, he’s just a different kind of character.” For instance, in the book, the Hunger Games kicks off and Peeta is paralyzed when the other all-star tributes dive into the water. “The option is for either me drowning or sitting there like a cat batting my paw into the water,” says Josh Hutcherson with a laugh. “Either way the visual is horrible.” Easy fix: Let Peeta swim.

2) Goodbye Bonnie and Twill. In the book, Katniss stumbles upon the District 8 refugees in her father’s hunting cabin. There they reveal to a stunned Katniss the existence of District 13 and news of the spreading revolution our hero unintentionally sparked with her act of rebellion at the end of The Hunger Games. So the movie had to find a new way to introduce the news of District 13. “That’s fun,” says Lawrence, “figuring out new ways around things and new ways of doing things.”

3) Darius, we hardly know ye. District 12′s youngest peacekeeper, who pays dearly for intervening during that terrible scene of Gale’s public whipping, didn’t make the jump from page to screen. It’s another instance of storytellers having to drown one of their kittens. “It’s as agonizing for us to lose things from the book as it is for a fan,” says producer Nina Jacobson. “I want every single thing in there. But you know what? If you have to give up something in order to give more time to Katniss and Gale or to Effie as she starts to feel a conscience, you make the sacrifices in order to serve the characters and themes that are more essential.”

Read More

Cannes Film Fest Photos of the Cast of The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

Our favorite cast of The Hunger Games: Catching Fire - Jennifer Lawrence (Katniss), Liam Hemsworth (Gale), and Sam Claflin (Finnick) were at the Cannes Film Festival. They were joined by director Francis Lawrence for the event. Take a look at the photos below - from the red carpet to the after party. I don't own any of these photos.

Read More

Francis Lawrence Reveals Additional Gale Scenes and Assuring That Catching Fire is Faithful to the Book

In an interview with SciFiNow, director Francis Lawrence was able to gush more about The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, revealing additional scenes for the character of Gale (to be played by Liam Hemsworth), the cornucopia, and the faithfulness of the movie to the book.

on the cornucopia:

“There is a moment we have in the arena when the gamemaker starts to spin the cornucopia, and I’m very proud of that,” Lawrence said. “We designed a very cool sequence and created a spinning island, and that’s going to be very, very cool. So that’s kind of fun and very unique. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

on adding more scenes for Gale:

One of the very first things we shot was a sort of goodbye before Katniss goes into the arena that I like a lot,” Lawrence said. “We actually shot it while we were in prep. We went out into a meadow, out in the mountains in north Georgia and shot this sequence over three or four hours, and I really like it.”

On the faithfulness of the film to the book:

“It’s a really faithful adaptation,” he told SciFiNow. “We definitely made some cuts, but we did it with Suzanne [Collins, author], and I would say that it’s very, very faithful.”

Read More

Catching Fire Filming Has Wrapped - Francis Lawrence Confirmed

According to Perri Nemiroff from Movies.com and Shockya.com, Francis Lawrence has confirmed that filming for The Hunger Games: Catching Fire has wrapped up! The team is now on its editing process. The director confirmed this during the CinemCon in Vegas. He was joined by Elizabeth Banks (Effie) and Liam Hemsworth (Gale). You can see the pics here.

It's quite contradicting to the last extras calling in Atlanta. You can read that report here.

Read More

Francis Lawrence on Major Catching Fire Changes from Book to Movie, His Favorite Scene and a lot more

MTV's Hollywood Crush has an exclusive interview with Francis Lawrence, the director of "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire." In the recent interview, the director talked about the major changes from book to film, his most loved scene (s) and the spinning arena.



Major changes on the book:

 “No, not really, I would say that it’s a really faithful adaptation. You know, whenever you’re adapting something that’s a 12- or 14-hour read down to something that has to be around two hours, there’s going to be some cuts. We definitely made some cuts. I don’t want to go into that, but we did it with Suzanne, and I would say that it’s very, very faithful. We tried to get as much as we could in there.”

   Favorite scenes in the movie:

“It’s interesting because there’s a very small blur—I want to say it’s a paragraph long in the book—but the moment in the arena when the gamemaker starts to spin the cornucopia, and I’m very proud of that. We designed a very cool sequence and created a spinning island, and that’s going to be very, very cool. So that’s kind of fun and very unique. I’ve never seen anything like it. It’s cool.

  “You know one of the very first things we shot that I like quite a lot is, there is sort of a goodbye before she goes into the arena with Liam that I like a lot. And it was actually—we shot it because we needed summer foliage and summer flowers and things like that. We actually shot it while we were in prep. Very first thing we sort of went out into the meadow, out in the mountains in north Georgia and shot this sequence over three or four hours or so, and I really like it. I think it’s really nice. Jennifer and Liam are really good in it. It’s very nice.”

Read More

Francis Lawrence On Gary Ross, Finnick, Haymitch, Gary Ross, and Arena Scenes in Catching Fire

In a recent interview with MTV, Francis Lawrence talked about a lot of Catching Fire things including the way he incorporated his style with Gary Ross from "The Hunger Games," working with the cast, arena scenes and the character development of Finnick and Haymitch.

On Gary Ross' Style and Working with the Cast

"I liked what Gary did a lot, but I have a different style than he does," Lawrence explained. "So it was very easy for me to come in the room and sit down with the people involved in the movie and sort of say, 'Here's what I like about what Gary did that I would latch on to and hold onto and embrace, and here's the way I would do it differently.' The trickier thing, honestly for me, was sort of stepping into a world, and there's crew members that were on the first movie, obviously an entire cast, all the people that are returning that I inherited. I was nervous about what they were going to feel... I think everybody in general was really gracious and worked really hard and ended up being really fun to work with. I think there were a couple of people that were really bummed that Gary wasn't doing it, and it had less to do with the choice of me coming on than just Gary not doing it. They signed on with Gary; they're friends with Gary; they like Gary. And I think there was definitely some sadness there."

On Sam and Finnick 

"[Claflin] is very athletic, which is great. He's in great shape. He's very charismatic," Lawrence said. "But I was also looking in the long term. There's kind of a rouge-like quality to him in this book. And long term, he's actually an emotional character and a very loyal character and a character who's in love; a character who experienced quite a lot of sadness. And he was really able to tap into that, as well as being really charming and sexy and handsome as hell."

On Haymitch

"One of the things that we wanted to dive into a little more... is the whole idea of PTSD, and one of the big things for [author] Suzanne[Collins] is just sort of the idea of the consequences of war as kind of one of the backbone theme of the entire series," Lawrence said. "One of the things I really like about this book is you start to see kind of why Haymitch is the way he is, why people are the way they are, so he and I did a fair amount of work in terms of that, in terms of understanding PTSD and how to work with somebody with post-traumatic stress. Also we started messing around a lot with some real humanity in Haymitch because he can be quite cynical and sarcastic at times. But I think there's a more human side to him in this one as well.

Arena scenes
 

"The arena stuff is pretty tricky... just because the sort of center of the arena where the cornucopia exists and the water and the spokes. The circular beach with the jungle around it doesn't exist, so we have to sort of piece it all together," he explained. "And you know even though shooting in Hawaii sounds like a lot of fun, it's pretty tricky when you're in the beach and waves and tides. Our set got washed away one day by the tide, and then... shooting in the jungle where there's bugs and mud and rain. The days are short, so you don't have much time, and you're starting to lug around 100-pound IMAX cameras."

UPDATE: In a separate interview, Jennifer Lawrence has confirmed to Belfast UK that they will reshoot Catching Fire by March.

Read More

Movies.com Weighs the Pros and Cons of Having Francis Lawrence Direct Mockingjay 1 and 2

Lionsgate has already announced that they chose Francis Lawrence to direct Mockingjay Part 1 and Part 2, which will be out by November 2014 and 2015. The news was received differently by different fans and movie critics - some may like it and some may not. Now, let's listen to Movies.com's opinion on having Francis Lawrence continue directing "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay" Part 1 and Part 2. 

Pro: Continuity

Continuity is key to any franchise in every respect – costume design, set design, tone, etc. Yes, Hunger Games has some solid source material at the core for guidance, but individual imagination and vision can still differ vastly from person to person. By keeping Lawrence on board for films two, three and four, we’re almost guaranteeing that every iteration of the franchise will maintain consistency.

Con: Continuity

Yes, continuity is key to keeping moviegoers immersed in a world throughout the length of a franchise, but hey, mistakes are made and sometimes things have to change. When you’ve got the same director neck deep in the same material for three films in a row, it can be tough to trade the old for something new, even if the old didn’t end up working all that well. And, should that happen, it wouldn’t even be Lawrence’s fault. Filmmaking is a lengthy and intense process and sometimes the key to making a movie work is stepping away for a bit. However, for Lawrence, with three films coming out and each only a year apart, he’ll likely be living, breathing and eating Hunger Games for the next three years straight.

Con: Catching Fire Doesn’t Live Up to Expectations

Gasp! I said it! I really do have faith in Lawrence and have very high hopes he’ll keep the bar high with Catching Fire, but it’s just impossible to guarantee the quality of the film at this point in the game – whether you’re a fan or you’re actually on set working on it. Perhaps they’re shooting some incredible material, but when Lawrence sits down to edit, it just doesn’t cut together well. Yes, the opposite could be the case, too, but, the point is, it can still go either way and should Catching Fire disappoint, it could be detrimental to the morale of the steadfast fan base.

Pro: Catching Fire Lives Up to Expectations

Yes, I just had to end on a positive note. Should Catching Fire blow us all away – and I truly believe it will – it’ll be smooth sailing through Mockingjay –Part 2!

Read More

Francis Lawrence Will Continue to Direct Mockingjay Part 1 and 2

Lionsgate has released an official statement confirming that Francis Lawrence will continue to direct the rest of the films of The Hunger Games franchise apart from Catching Fire. So, "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1" and "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2" will depend on Francis Lawrence's hands. Here's a screenshot from Lionsgate News' tweet.

Read More

Jennifer Lawrence on Splitting Mockingjay in Two Parts; On Catching Fire Director Francis Lawrence and Co-Star Sam Claflin

From Washington Post:

Jennifer Lawrence has reacted to the split of the adaptation of Mockingjay into two during the Toronto International Film Festival:

She said she initially thought it would be better to do the finale in a single film. When she got the news that it would be done in two parts, Lawrence was in the middle of shooting “The Hunger Games,” and she re-read the books and thought about how much had to be left out in adapting the first one.

“You want everything in there, but you don’t have enough room, and you’re trying to decide what’s going to get cut and what isn’t,” Lawrence said. “So it was a relief on the last one to know that we don’t really have to cut anything. We have enough time, we have enough room to really tell this story to the fullest, and we don’t need to cut anything.

Jen also joked about buying her own island from her potential earnings in Mockingjay ;)

In other interview, Jennifer Lawrence talks about director Francis Lawrence and her Catching Fire co-star Sam Claflin. From MTV:

Get More:
Movie Trailers, Movies Blog

Jennifer Lawrence to Sam Claflin: "He's wonderful. He's really sweet, a great, wonderful actor. He's got a great American accent."

Read More

Jennifer Lawrence: Catching Fire Will Be Very Real, Francis Lawrence Will Continue What Gary Ross Has Started

LA Times has caught up with Jennifer Lawrence, who plays Katniss Everdeen in "The Hunger Games." She talked about the sequel Catching Fire, which is set to be released in theaters on November 22, 2013. She also discusses about how the new director Francis Lawrence. Read more from LA Times below:

“The new movie will be very real, which is what I’m excited about,” she told 24 Frames of “Catching Fire,” which Francis Lawrence will direct. “I really like his take, which is a lot of what I liked in Gary Ross,” she added. “It’s the realistic grasp of the story instead of all the details of the imaginary things.”

Lawrence said she’s met with the director and believes that, overall, he’s trying to continue what Ross started with his adaptation of the first book in the Suzanne Collins’ series. “He’s not trying to reinvent anything,” she said.

The actress begins shooting “Catching Fire” in the fall, with the movie set for a November 2013 release.

Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen

Read More

Elizabeth Banks Meets Catching Fire Director Francis Lawrence

We've heard that Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson have met their Catching Fire director Francis Lawrence already and now it's Elizabeth Banks' time. The actress who plays Effie in the trilogy is fascinated with the director, saying that:

“Let me tell you whats fun – to have the job before the director!” she said. “That has never happened ever in my life.”

“He’s fantastic. He’s such a smart guy. He has some great ideas for the movie.”

Source: Socialite via E! News

Elizabeth Banks as Effie

Read More

Jennifer Lawrence Met With Catching Fire Director Francis Lawrence (PHOTOS)

Jennifer and Francis Lawrence (not related to each other) were seen together for a meeting in Santa Monica. This is such a great news to the fandom since they are already showing us that production is on its way and the casting craze might end soon. Here are the photos:

hey Jen, is that the script for Catching Fire?

Credits to: My Hunger Games, Celebrity Gossip, Jennifer Lawrence Daily

Read More

Josh Hutcherson and Elizabeth Banks Share News about the Hunger Games: Catching Fire (Videos)

Josh Hutcherson and Elizabeth Banks were interviewed by Josh Horowitz from MTV during the 2012 awards show. The stars talked about Catching Fire. Here are some scoops from MTV's report:

Last week came word that the crew may leave behind its North Carolina location from the first film for a shoot further south in Atlanta. Hutcherson told MTV News that he hasn't heard a definitive word on the location, but he is looking forward to the shoot.

"I haven't heard anything confirmed yet, but Atlanta is a big possibility. I know they're looking at Hawaii, too, for some of the tropic stuff when we're in the Games itself," he said. "I'm excited. It's going to be somewhere nice. I'm looking forward to it."

A possible change in filming location would be a minor shift compared to the director swap that captured headlines months ago. Hutcherson said that he recently saw the new director, Francis Lawrence, and is excited about his vision for the next adaptation.

Get More: Movie Trailers, Movies Blog

"I just had lunch with him a couple days ago, and he's fantastic. He's so smart and really has his finger on the pulse of the story, and I love the way he's going to structure the script," Hutcherson said. "The first thing he said to me was, 'I want to make the movie out of the book. I want the book to be the best movie possible.' That was immediately what he led with, which meant a lot to me because the books mean a lot to me."

Sunday night's winner for Best On-Screen Transformation, Elizabeth Banks, on the other hand, has not spoken with Lawrence, though she understands why. 

"They're so early in the process. That seems silly to say because we're going to make the movie in a few months," she said. "But I think he's just started, and we have just gotten scripts, and it's just sort of all happening."

Get More: 2012 Movie Awards, New Movies

As for whether she can share any details from the script she just read, Banks kept her secrets to herself. "I can't tell you anything," she said. "I read a book called 'Catching Fire' that I'm pretty sure the movie will be based on."

Read More

Josh Hutcherson: Francis Lawrence Has Smart Ideas for The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

Josh Hutcherson, who won the Best Male Performance at the 2012 MTV Movie Awards, has talked to E! during the red carpet. He dishes about Francis Lawrence, who was chosen to take over Gary Ross' seat for the Hunger Games sequel, Catching Fire (November 22, 2013). Here is Josh's statement:

"I sat down with him a couple of days ago," Hutcherson told Marc Malkin from E! at the MTV Movie Awards. "He's fantastic. He's such a smart guy. He has some great ideas for the movie.

"I just really like where his head is at," he continued. "I really like him a lot."

"We talked about character development in the stories," Hutcherson said. "As you know, the second book is more complicated than the first, so we talked about the narrative. Everything he said was super smart."

Josh Hutcherson

Read More