“The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” Director Francis Lawrence talks about Suzanne Collins describing why he thinks the audience loves her Hunger Games stories in his interview at the London Premiere. Check it out.
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00:00 What was it like to write the book?
00:05 I think it was just really exciting. We thought it was all over. We were surprised when we
00:10 got the call that there was a new book coming in from Suzanne. And then when I read the
00:14 book to see that we could kind of reinvent the world a little bit and build it in a different
00:19 way and tell a very different kind of story even though it really is very much a Hunger
00:23 Games film, it was really, really exciting.
00:27 I think it's like what Suzanne Collins does, especially in this YA world. She writes from
00:34 theme. She comes up with ideas that she wants to write stories about. So the first series
00:39 was all about the consequence of war. She doesn't pull any punches. She doesn't talk
00:43 down to her audience. And I think that's partly why that audience responded and why it also
00:48 crossed to younger to older. And she creates an amazing world, dynamic stories, compelling
00:55 characters. It's all about theme and I think people really hook in.
01:00 Tom kind of came out of the blue, I have to say, which was an amazing thing. We sort of
01:05 knew we were casting somebody unknown for the role and he came in kind of late in the
01:08 game and saw an audition. But once we did, it was like, "This guy is clearly Snow." He's
01:14 so talented and so smart.
01:16 Rachel was my first choice. I saw her in West Side Story and I was like, "We have to get
01:20 Rachel for Lucy Gray." So that was great. And same with Viola. I wanted Viola. It was
01:26 my first choice. I had a little relationship with her. And it took a little sort of like
01:30 educating a bit. She knew about the books and the movies, obviously, but hadn't seen
01:35 them. She also knew the amazing pedigree of past that we've had over the years. So she
01:40 knew there had to be something there. But I think she got hooked in and also into the
01:45 idea of really doing something wildly different for her. And I think she had fun doing that.
01:50 I mean, I think, look, I think the movie on its own stands on its own. So ideally, new
01:54 fans can come in, whether or not you know the books or the movies or whatever, and come
01:58 in and enjoy this experience. I think for fans of the movies and the books, what's great
02:02 about this is it's an origins movie. And it's not just the origin of a villain we know.
02:08 It's the origins of the world, the origins of the game, the origins of songs we know,
02:12 of behavior we know, of relationships we know, that changes your perception of the books
02:17 and the movies that people are familiar with. And I think it's wildly fulfilling.
02:22 Are we going to get a bit more?
02:24 I don't know. I mean, it's up to Suzanne. I have to say, Nina and I were always like,
02:29 it comes from Suzanne. If Suzanne writes a book, we're there.