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Officially Official

Francis Lawrence Will Direct Catching Fire

by Jamie Frevele | 11:03 am, April 20th, 2012


Francis Lawrence, who directed I Am Legend and Water For Elephants, is the official choice to direct the sequel to The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, replacing the now-departed Gary Ross. It was down to Lawrence (no relation to the movie’s star, Jennifer Lawrence) and Bennett Miller (Moneyball), but it came down to whose schedule would best accommodate their November 2013 release date. We won’t get upset that Lionsgate couldn’t have thought outside the box and chosen a female director, but allow us a moment to wallow for exactly five seconds over this missed opportunity. 5 … 4 … 3 … 2 … 1. Okay! Moving on.

Timing was the key in this decision, and now that Lawrence has been chosen, he can dive right into production so his star, Jennifer Lawrence, can begin work on the sequel to X-Men: First Class. Lionsgate had been hoping to start production in late August, and Miller wanted to push that back so he could direct Foxcatcher, which will star Steve Carrell. Clearly, Lionsgate is not going to try to accommodate a director when they’re dealing with a brand new blockbuster franchise. They want this thing done.

Not that Lawrence is a bad choice, or even a runner-up to Miller, who was genuinely interested in the movie, according to Deadline. He has a dystopian sci-fi background (with I Am Legend), and his experience directing music videos might make for a really fun movie to watch while Katniss Everdeen begins her fight against the Capitol. It will certainly look different from Ross’s work in the first installment, but then again, having a variety of directors didn’t hurt the Harry Potter movies.

But okay, yes, there was never a female contender to direct Catching Fire, and that is disappointing. Especially considering there were at least 15 great choices for such a gig. But it seems like this was not just a good moneymaker, but an exciting project for any director. And as long as Lawrence is as psyched about this movie as the fans are (and Ross was about the first movie), we’re sure he’ll make us a great movie.

(Deadline via Flavorwire)

Previously in The Hunger Games

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  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1208921 Nikki Lincoln

    Well, his two big titles were also adapted from books which should help. I’ve only read/seen Water for Elephants and I think he did a good job of showing the color of the book although there were some story cuts that didn’t seem necessary for the adaptation so it will be interesting to see how he handles a book that has many more moving parts in the plot. 

    So now that this is taken care of can they please cast Finnick and Johanna before I die of curiosity??

  • Anonymous

     Just hope they didn’t do like with the first movie; leave out Madge Undersee…
    With this one, they might leave out Johanna Mason and Finnick O’Dair…

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1208921 Nikki Lincoln

    Well, they still need 24 tributes so that’s less likely. Maybe they’ll leave out Plutarch Heavensbee?

  • Anonymous

     That is more likely…  Yeah?

  • Frodo Baggins

    Uh… not to give anything away, but you haven’t read the third book, have you?

  • Frodo Baggins

    “We won’t get upset that Lionsgate couldn’t have thought outside the box and chosen a female director”

    Or, like, a director who has a single good film to his name. Constantine was pretty, and the first two thirds of I Am Legend were engaging, but there’s only so much you can blame the screenwriters for how weak those films were in terms of tone, character, and narrative. Suffice to say, my hopes for Catching Fire have dropped. Though I will say this for the guy: he probably won’t overuse the shakycam.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1208921 Nikki Lincoln

    Actually, I have – it was a joke. Technically though, he was supposed to be in the first movie and they cut him out of that…

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