While word on the film has been somewhat tempered until just recently, the marketing for “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire” has started to swell with a passion in service to a hefty goal. Last month a staggering worldwide box office haul of just under $1 billion was projected for the Francis Lawrence-directed sequel, and to make sure that forecast promptly follows that track come November, the director has offered up a few promising tidbits of his new vision for the new adaptation.
Speaking with New York Magazine, Lawrence addressed expectations for ‘Catching Fire,’ both for fans and the common viewer, mainly focusing on some key criticisms of the first film that he’s putting right—namely, the absence this time of heavy shaky-cam (“I think a lot of people will be happy to hear that,” he says)—and also the boosted romance between Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) and Peeta (Josh Hutcherson). “I felt the love story in general was, um, a bit buried in the first one,” he explained. “I wanted to bring the love story to the surface. And when I say love story, I mean the triangle.”
Aside from more attention paid to the love triangle between Katniss, Peeta and Gale (Liam Hemsworth), Lawrence described the sequel’s CGI work as “phenomenal,” and also credited Weta in helping out on a “monkey-mutt attack” from the books. He also expressed admiration for the top-tier supporting cast of new names to the franchise. “If you can have Philip Seymour Hoffman, get Philip Seymour Hoffman! And he loved the books, so he signed on. Same with Jeffrey Wright. Same with Julianne [Moore, as President Alma Coin]. If you can just get those amazing actors, then that’s 80 percent of my job.” Well, at least Lawrence isn’t shy about using the clout of Suzanne Collins‘ franchise to garner his dream cast.
You can read the rest of the light-hearted interview with Lawrence at NY Mag, and also catch a few batch of images from the film below (via The Hob), which show a selection of the new cast members in their element. ‘Catching Fire’ opens in theatres and IMAX on November 22nd.