Francis Lawrence: biography and films of the main director of the "Hunger Games"

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:41

Francis Lawrence is an Austrian-born American director and music video director. Thanks to the incredible natural talent, boundless faith and the support of people close to him, a new star of cinema lit up in the world, giving moviegoers such masterpieces as "Konstantin: The Dark Lord", "I Am Legend", "The Hunger Games".

How the formation of a Man with a capital letter took place can be found in this article.

Young years and the beginning of the career of the future movie star

Francis Lawrence is a native of Austria. He was born on March 26, 1970 in Vienna. Three years after the birth of their son, the parents decide to move to sunny Los Angeles. Here the boy grew up under the rays of the Hollywood sun and began to take the first steps towards cinema.

Once his parents gave him a video camera, and since then the guy has not parted with it for a minute. He filmed everything, including the game inhis friends basketball. This work was the first step on the way to a directing career. And the cassette with the recording flew around all the young men I knew, who all said as one that the video was of high quality and quite professional. Lawrence was soon being asked to film all sorts of parties, school sports, and auto clips featuring friends' cars.

Everyone said that the guy had a great talent for cinema. After graduating from high school, Francis Lawrence enters the directing department of the Loyola Marymont Film School. Already in the second year, the applicant was invited to the position of assistant director of the film "Turn it to the fullest" (1990) with Christian Slater in the title role. It is worth mentioning that at the same time Francis was shooting videos for little-known artists.

First steps up the career ladder

Lawrence was passionate and absorbed in his work, which is also a hobby. And in the wake of inspiration, he writes several scripts. In 1990, the young director successfully completed his studies and did not hesitate to further develop his career. All relatives were very supportive of the guy, so they allocated some funds to organize his new project - a personal film studio. And his co-founder and assistant was an old friend - Mika Rosen.

Together they began to shoot video clips, and soon such famous people as Missy Eliot, Timbelent, Akon, Britney Spears, Janet Jackson, the mega-popular Aerosmith group and many, many others became his clients. This is where it came in handythe talent of a man as a screenwriter, because he wrote many scripts for clips himself. After working with big stars of show business and quite a high-quality result, Lawrence began to be respected and revered as a professional in his field.

It is worth noting that such corporations as Bacardi Limited, Coca-Cola, McDonald's used its services. The director himself recalls that he liked what he did, and in particular, to see his creations on TV every day, but his dream has always been to shoot a full-length movie. Soon it came true.

The brightest films of Francis Lawrence

In 2005, Francis Lawrence takes on his first feature film. To say that he coped with his task is to say nothing. The film "Constantine: The Dark Lord" with Keanu Reeves in the title role was a resounding success, and the box office more than doubled the costs. Lawrence recalls that he hardly slept before the premiere. Well, now we can say with confidence that in vain. The beginning of a career in big cinema was laid, and his next work became a real "bomb" for viewers of all countries. I Am Legend (2007) cost $150 million to produce and grossed nearly $600 million, which is saying a lot.

The next no less popular hit in the world of cinema was the director's work on the film "Water for Elephants!" (2011). For filming, he managedinvolve very famous actors at the time - Reese Witherspoon and Robert Patinson. The picture justified the hopes of absolutely everyone: both the members of the film crew and the moviegoers, who, with bated breath, followed every frame of the sentimental story.

The next big project in Francis Lawrence's directorial career was the work on the Hunger Games saga. Francis began filming the sequel to The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, which was a huge success. The next two parts of the saga, released in 2014 and 2015, were also successful at the box office.

Now the man is working on his own script, according to which he plans to make a film. It is known that this is the story of a prison in which there was once a riot.

Jennifer Lawrence and Francis Lawrence are relatives?

In the photo above, beautiful and talented people - Jennifer Lawrence and Francis Lawrence at the premiere of one of the films of the Hunger Games saga.

Interestingly, after the release of the second part of The Hunger Games, many film fans began to notice one interesting fact - the director and the lead actress have the same last name. Immediately, the Internet blew up the news that the guys are relatives. And if you are also interested in whether Jennifer Lawrence and Francis Lawrence are relatives, then we will answer with confidence that no. They are just namesakes.

Some interesting facts from the director's life

Francis Lawrence is one of the most talented people in the world of cinema and cinema. Once becoming famous and in demand, he never lowered the bar and for his great work he was repeatedly awarded honorary awards and recognition from moviegoers around the world, as well as critics. Did you know what he was:

• produced the series "Kings" (2009) and "The Connection" (2012);
• as an actor participated in the projects "Stop! Filmed!" (1999), "Unprepared" (2005), "Secret Origin: The Story of DC Comics" (2010);
• won Latin Grammy Awards for Shakira's music video for Whenever, wherever (2001);
• filmed a video for the song Bad Romance (2009) for the extravagant Lady Gaga, which won the best video of the year at the VMA Awards.