I’ll forever be grateful toFrancis Lawrenceand not just because he’s a cool person to talk to and a director I admire. I’ll be grateful because he agreed to be the first participant in our yearlong IMAX screening series.
If you didn’t know, we just announced a screening series that will focus on both classic and new IMAX films. The goal is to show a film every month in Los Angeles with a filmmaker Q&A and, when possible, do a meet-and-greet after the screening for attendees. Our first screening wasThe Hunger Games Mockingjay – Part 2with director Francis Lawrence and we just announced our second screening,Captain America: The Winter Soliderin 3D at IMAX headquarters in Los Angeles withJoeandAnthony Russo(click here to try for tickets). Since the majority of Collider readers won’t have the opportunity to attend these screenings, we will always record the Q&As and make them available on the site.
Which brings me to my Q&A with Francis Lawrence, which took place after our IMAX screening ofThe Hunger Games Mockingjay – Part 2.
Usually when I host a Q&A after a screening you’re given about 15 to 20 minutes. Standing to one side is a studio representative and everyone is worried about getting the person to the next event. So what was great about the Q&A with Francis Lawrence was we didn’t have a limited amount of time and I had the freedom to ask whatever I wanted without any sort of time restriction.
During the wide-ranging conversation he talked about the experience of making three films in three years, deleted scenes, IMAX, the story behind the ‘Batman v Superman’billboard in ‘I Am Legend’,getting an R rating with the MPAA over an early cut of ‘Mockingjay - Part 2’and grappling with the MPAA in general, taking inspiration from Ridley Scott’s ‘Alien’for his sewer scenes, balancing the graphic content of the books with the PG-13 rating, the ultimateHunger GamesBlu-ray box set, and so much more. If you’re a fan of theHunger Gamesfranchise or Francis Lawrence, I promise you’ll enjoy watching what he had to say.
Again, a huge thank you to Francis Lawrence for being the first person to participate on our IMAX screening series. I’ll always be grateful.
