Tag: Francis Lawrence

‘Hunger Games’ Finale ‘Mockingjay’ to be Split into Two Films

Jul. 18 Movies, News no comments

The release date for Mockingjay Parts 1 and 2 have been announced.

 

Catching Fire, the second in The Hunger Games series, will be released in 2013.

The popularity of Young Adult fiction has exploded within the last decade and Harry Potter was responsible for leading the charge. Twilight followed suit and will wrap up with their last installment, Breaking Dawn Part 2, debuting in November. This leaves The Hunger Games to carry the mantle for young adult fiction based movies, however, The Mortal Instruments may be set to give The Hunger Games series a run for its money. Because Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was so long, the film adaptation was split into two films. This was a very good decision, as there was so much content to cover, just one movie would have left things feeling rushed and would not have provided nearly as epic of a conclusion.

Summit Entertainment, now a subsidiary of Lions Gate, made the call to split Breaking Dawn into two films for nearly the same reason. Rumors have circulated for quite some time that Mockingjay, the conclusion of The Hunger Games series, would be split as well, and according to Screen Rant, Lionsgate has officially confirmed this. The remaining three films in The Hunger Games series will debut within a year of each other, Catching Fire on Nov. 22, 2013, Mockingjay Part 1 on November 21st, 2014, and the conclusion, Mockingjay Part 2 on November 20, 2015. The Hunger Games movies seem to be moving into the slot around Thanksgiving which Harry Potter and Twilight have both filled in the past.

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay will be split into two parts.

The question to ask is, does Mockingjay really need to be split into two parts? There were several things that Gary Ross left out of The Hunger Games that I personally felt were an important part of the story. Splitting The Hunger Games or even Catching Fire into two parts would not be advisable since there are no good breaking points in either of those books. I can definitely see the argument in favor of two Mockingjay films. Amy Wilkinson of MTV makes a very good point regarding how much ground gets covered in Mockingjay. Without revealing too many spoilers, I will just say that the action in Mockingjay takes place in several districts in addition to The Capitol. While it is not my favorite book in the series, I feel that the action in Mockingjay is definitely present and if the director (whether it will be Francis Lawrence is up in the air) can create an appropriate place to break off Part 1 and leave viewers wanting more, then it will be all the better.

What do you think about splitting films into two parts? Let us know in the comments!

Source: Screen Rant
Image Sources: Screen Rant, Wikipedia 

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Jena Malone Reaped for Catching Fire and Mockingjay

Jul. 08 Movies, News 2 comments

Jena Malone has been cast as Johanna Mason in Catching Fire and Mockingjay.Not long ago, we brought word that Jena Malone was being considered for a role as District 7 tribute Johanna Mason, a character that features prominently in both Catching Fire and Mockingjay. While several actresses were being considered for the role, among them Mia Wasikowska and model/actress Zoe Aggeliki, Entertainment Weekly reports that Lionsgate has officially offered the Sucker Punch actress Malone the part of Mason. Her career is extremely diverse, as she as appeared in Donnie Darko, Saved!, and most recently The Hatfields and McCoys mini-series on History.

Mason is the last surviving female tributes from District 7. The year she won, which is not told in the books, she pretended to be weak and feigned hunger and fatigue in an attempt to overcome her opponents, which she did rather ruthlessly. Katniss Everdeen, protagonist of The Hunger Games and District 12 tribute, described Johanna as having a wicked ability to murder. She is cunning and sarcastic, but eventually proves to be a formidable ally to Katniss and Peeta as the series continues.

With filming set to begin in September, the time is drawing near to finish assembling the cast that will carry the rest of the series. While the novel Catching Fire provides very little in the way of character development, perhaps director Francis Lawrence has an opportunity to cast figures dynamic enough to hold their own, but not overshadow the primary cast. Weeds actor Hunter Parrish is being considered for Finnick Odair of District 4.

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Lionsgate confirms Francis Lawrence to Direct Catching Fire

May. 03 Movies, News no comments

The news that The Hunger Games director, Gary Ross is out and Francis Lawrence is in may very well cause mixed reactions among fans.  Ross is the writer/director of Pleasantville, one of my personal favorite films of the 90s, as well as co-writer of another under-seen favorite from my youth, Big staring Tom Hanks.  To my taste, he demonstrates a keen ability to make fantastical situations accessible for audiences.  I enjoyed his work on The Hunger Games immensely.  Francis Lawrence, on the other hand, is responsible for one of my all time Great Disappointments of Cinema – Constantine.  Oh, and a semi-disappointment, I Am Legend.  Aaand, the snoozefest punctuated by horrific animal beatings, Water for Elephants.

So, you likely know which side of this I take.

However, fans will likely take heart from the fact that all of the principles, including Lawrence, Hutcherson and Hemsworth are back on board for the sequel.  Let’s all agree to hope for the best.

The full press release from Lionsgate below:

LIONSGATE®, a leading global entertainment company, announced today that Francis Lawrence has officially signed on to direct CATCHING FIRE, the sequel to THE HUNGER GAMES, based on the second in a series of books by Suzanne Collins that has 36 million copies in circulation in the US alone. The announcement was made by Lionsgate’s Motion Picture Group Co-Chairmen Patrick Wachsberger and Rob Friedman.

Lawrence, who is represented by CAA and 3 Arts Entertainment, has experience directing films that make him uniquely suited to handle the blend of character driven drama and high stakes action of CATCHING FIRE; among them are I AM LEGEND, CONSTANTINE, and WATER FOR ELEPHANTS.

“Lionsgate, the cast, and filmmakers are all thrilled to have Francis Lawrence come on board as director of Catching Fire. Suzanne’s brilliant book is the intense story of the birth of the rebellion and Katniss’ emotionally charged journey as she takes on the mantle of the Mockingjay, and we all think Francis is the perfect director to bring the story to life,” said Erik Feig, Lionsgate’s President Of Production.

“From the very beginning of this brilliant trilogy’s journey from page to screen, our first priority has been to stay true to the heart and soul of Suzanne Collins’ powerful stories. From my first conversation with Francis, I knew he would make a great partner for both me and Suzanne. His passion for Catching Fire and inspired ideas for a faithful adaptation make him the perfect director for this movie. I know this will be a wonderful collaboration and I cannot wait to get started,” echoed producer Nina Jacobson.

Said Francis, “It is truly an honor and a privilege to bring Catching Fire, the second chapter of Suzanne’s beloved trilogy, to the big screen. I fell in love with the characters, the themes and the world she created and this chapter opens all of these elements up in such a thrilling, emotional and surprising way. I can’t wait to dive right into it and bring this chapter to life along with the truly superb cast and filmmakers involved.”

Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, and Liam Hemsworth will reprise their roles as Katniss, Peeta and Gale, with Lenny Kravitz, Elizabeth Banks, Stanley Tucci, Donald Sutherland, Toby Jones, and Woody Harrelson also returning to their respective roles. The film will be produced by Jacobson’s Color Force in tandem with producer Jon Kilik. Production is slated to begin this Fall, and the film will be released on November 22, 2013.

THE HUNGER GAMES has broken many box office records since it opened on March 23, 2012. It achieved the highest grossing opening weekend ever for any non-sequel film and the third biggest opening weekend in box office history. It has already grossed $373 million at the North American box office, ranking in the top 20 films of all time, and it recently crossed the $600 million mark in worldwide box office.

(Photo Credit: Robert Wallace/ WENN.com)

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Geek-Squared: Pottermore, Diablo III, Robertson Ditches DC and Lawrence Catches Fire

Apr. 21 Comic Books, Editorials, Movies, Video Games no comments

This week in the geek-o-verse: Pottermore was unveiled, Blizzard offers a weekend of free play for Diablo III, Chris Roberson bids goodbye to DC Comics and Francis Lawrence announced to direct Catching Fire.

1. Potter fans get more with then unveiling of Pottermore.

PottermorePottermore allows users to interact with the stories in new ways, starting when they register and are sorted into one of the Houses of Hogwarts. From there users choose a wand (but of course, anyone who has read the books or seen the films knows that the wand really chooses the user).

Pottermore is the place for Harry Potter fans to share and participate in the stories, showcase their own Potter-related creativity, and discover additional information about the world of Harry Potter from the author herself.

The Pottermore experience is available to users in English, French, Italian, German and even Spanish (Castilian), with users not only being able to interact with the stories, but also purchase and download audio books and the Harry Potter e-books, as well as other Harry Potter merchandise.

All this aside, with Rowling’s focus on her new ‘adult’ book, one has to wonder if this is a last ditch attempt to make more money off the Potter franchise. Alternately, a cynic might view this as a way of keeping interest in Potter alive; in case her adult book fails miserably — at least she has the Potter franchise to fall back on.

2. Check out Diablo III Free this Weekend

Diablo IIIStarting April 20 and 12:01 AM (PDT) and going through Monday, April 23 (10:00 AM PDT), Blizzard is offering users the opportunity to preview Diablo III as beta testers. The game, slated for wide release on May 15, is the long awaited, MMORPG sequel to the Blizzard hit, Diablo II. If you want to participate, click here for instructions. So get out there – play alone, team up with friends and create havoc as one of heroic classes as you fight to save the world from demonic invasion. That way when people ask you what you did over the weekend, you can legitimately say, “I saved the world” — and it won’t be a lie!

3. Chris Roberson Leaves DC Comics

The story broke via Twitter on April 18 when Chris Roberson, a science-fiction author and comic book writer tweeted:

Having an afternoon cocktail to celebrate the end of my time at DC.

Aside from the Fairest arc I already committed to doing, iZombie will be the last time I’ll ever write for DC.

The news came as a surprise to fans, who were disappointed that he would not be participating in further DC projects. Roberson’s tweets addressing these fan concerns were telling:

Sorry. In a better world, characters like the Legion would be owned by a more ethical company, but sadly not in this one.

The short version is, I don’t agree with the way they treat other creators and their general business practices.

I decided quite some time ago, but waited until after the cancellation of my book was announced to discuss it.

A publisher in his own right, Roberson is taking a stand and willing to put his personal ethics on the line — something I can completely respect. But just because he is leaving DC Comics doesn’t mean Roberson is forgetting his fans. He mentioned that he is working a new project, that is rumored to be unveiled at San Diego Comic Con. In further addressing his reasons for breaking with DC Comics, Roberson pointed fans to an article by David Brothers for Comics Alliance which details issues regarding DC’s handling of Before Watchmen, in addition to Marvel’s handling of The Avengers.

While we are sorry to see Roberson and DC split, perhaps Roberson will have the freedom to pursue projects that not only sit better ethically, but show off his considerable professional skills.

4. Francis Lawrence Slated to Direct Catching Fire

Since the Hunger Games premiered, fans and pundits have been making bets about who would be tapped to direct the sequel. If you had a bet on Francis Lawrence, then you came out on top, as Lawrence was announced as the director for Catching Fire this week. With his past experience directing the sci-fi, apocalyptic I Am Legend, and various music videos under his belt, Lawrence’s vision for Catching Fire will without a doubt be visually different to Hunger Games.

As to whether it will be the hit that Hunger Games has been thus far, that won’t be seen until the November 2013 release.

And that is the week that was! Go get your geek on!

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Francis Lawrence Chosen to Helm Catching Fire

Apr. 20 Movies, News no comments

Director Lawrence has been chosen by Lionsgate to director Catching Fire.In late breaking news, director Francis Lawrence has become Lionsgate’s choice to head up Catching Fire, the highly anticipated sequel to The Hunger Games. This comes less than two weeks after Gary Ross, THG‘s director, made his decision not to be involved with the rest of the franchise. His decision was due to the filming schedule for Catching Fire and the high demand for the film’s star Jennifer Lawrence, who will be splitting her time between filming the movie adaptation of the next installment of the Hunger Games series and the sequel to 2011′s X-Men: First Class, in which she played a young Mystique. The wildly successful Hunger Games adaptation has grossed $336,666,363 as of April 15,  $152,535,747 of which is the total for the opening weekend.

Francis Lawrence is no stranger to book-to-movie adaptations. 2007′s I Am Legend, starring Will Smith, is based on a novel of the same name by author Richard Matheson. It is an apocolyptic thriller, which is not too far removed from the dystopian setting of The Hunger Games and the rest of the series. He was the director for Constantine, based on the comic book Hellblazer; the 2005 film which starred Keanu Reeves as the title character. Lawrence also directed 2011′s Water for Elephants, based on the book by Sarah Gruen. Most recently, he directed the pilot for the new Kiefer Sutherland show Touch and is filming Gotham, a pilot for ABC. He is also adept at music video direction and It is quite evident that his directorial background is diverse, but can he bring the writing prowess of Gary Ross?

It is reported that Lionsgate has set a date of November 22, 2013 to release Catching Fire, so whomever they chose would be facing a time crunch. With Jennifer Lawrence shooting the X-Men sequel, they would need to be able to accommodate the shooting schedules of both films. Catching Fire would need to finish in January so that she can begin filming for the X-Men movie, as she is contractually bound to Fox in an agreement that overrides her contract with Lionsgate.

What do you think about the news that Gary Ross is no longer directing Catching Fire? Do you think that this change of direction will be good for the franchise?

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