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SDCC 2013: Hunger Games and I, Frankenstein


To many screams of joy, director Francis Lawrence and the cast of The Hunger Games showed up to Hall H for the first time to present the new sequel.

Moderator Dave Karger introduced Willow Shields, Lenny Kravitz, Jena Malone, Jeffrey Wright. Liam Hemsworth, Josh Hutcherson and Jennifer Lawrence.

Since director and star are both Lawrences, I will henceforth call them F-Law and J-Law. Just for this article.

J-Law says Katniss now has PTSD, and is reconciling having Peeta understanding a part of her that Gale never will. (J-Lawrence’s face looks thinner, with more pronounced cheekbones. I seriously hope Hollywood isn’t trying to make her skin and bones).

Hemsworth says that after three days of scene of being whipped, it really did start to hurt, but “it was good fun.”

The new trailer was shown. “Those were games. Would you like to be in a real war?” You never want Donald Sutherland saying that to you. It’s an all-star tournament this time, with all the past winners…and as that new game opens, the players begin on platforms that are in the water. Katniss has to train to be a better killer, with yellow VR simulations that crumble into cubes when hit. Meanwhile, Peeta is tired of pretending to be romantic for the cameras. Haymitch’s advice to Katniss: “Stay alive.” Video of Katniss kissing Gale appears to be the basis for getting Katniss back in the Games, as blackmail that would prove the romance as a lie in part one. More action from the stormtrooper-like soldiers swarming into slums. Looks larger in scale than the last.

Did the victory tour feel like the Oscar tour? J-Law says obviously the stakes were different, but both were like new worlds she didn’t feel like a part of, with outfits and hair that weren’t her, and having to say things that…nope, she says, she never got that part down.

How hot are the kissing scenes going to be? J-Law: “Ohmigod, we should have brought the clip with the snot!” She promises she’ll put it on Youtube, where her nose ran into Josh’s mouth once.

Is Sam Claflin a sex god? Everyone on the panel agrees that he is.

J-Law’s favorite costume? The wedding dress was her favorite to look at, but wearing it was one of the hardest things she’s ever done in her life – it was huge, 5 feet in circumference. “I loved it because it was understated. That’s sarcasm.”

“I had a different life plan in mind, that was a little bit smaller”

Says she needed running training – “I run weird.” Hit herself in the face with the bow once while running. Just ordinary running is the hardest stunt for her.

She thinks sometimes big movies have too much money – indie movies have to get it done, and that makes people work harder, but the food is better on the big ones.

Josh, re: age differences in the cast – “On the first movie it was like a summer camp, and on this movie it was like a retirement home.” Wright says he got along with the older guys just fine. All agree there were no divas on set, which was a surprise.

Did Jennifer and Josh starve themselves for the first movie? “You never have to go to the gym when you do these movies because they’re so physical. No, I didn’t diet.” -J-Law.

Kravitz thinks it’s nice that kids now come up to him and want to meet Cinna, having no idea he’s a rock star. Wright learned to surf on the set in Hawaii.

An earlier look at Aaron Eckhart in I, Frankenstein was more mixed, with Eckhart as a very handsome, stick-fighting version of the creature (200 years of scars fading make him more handsome, it seems).
This Frankenstein monster, Adam, has been walking the earth for 200 years, and is caught in a war between gargoyles and demons. The demons want to know how Frankenstein lives and harness that power, while the gargoyles are sworn to stop that.

It’s a 3D movie from the producers of Underworld, and looks like Underworld meets Devil May Cry. And I mean that unflatteringly – I’m talking the computer graphics of Devil May Cry. Maybe it’s unfinished, though…to be charitable. Looks like an early in the year release, with all that entails.