Comic-Con: Jennifer Lawrence on Hunger Games sequel and Aaron Eckhart's 'fit Frankenstein' Jul 21st 2013, 09:23
Oscar-winner charms Comic-Con talking about 'post-traumatic stress' sequel Catching Fire, while Eckhart explains Underworld aesthetic of I, Frankenstein
Nobody could ever accuse Jennifer Lawrence of having airs and graces. The Oscar winner charmed the 6,500-strong assembled masses inside Hall H on Saturday afternoon with a typically self-deprecating display as she joined cast members to discuss The Hunger Games: Catching Fire and view the new trailer.
After Lawrence admitted that the hardest part of training was running – "I tried not to hit myself in the face with my bow" – she regaled the audience with an account of how a resuscitation scene with co-star Josh Hutcherson turned into something more romantic.
Or not … "There was all this snot coming out of my nose and when I had to kiss Josh it went in his mouth and then I coughed and I wobbled it." It seems that moments of light relief were welcome given the even more serious nature of the second episode in Lionsgate's four-movie franchise.
"[Catniss] lives a very different life [in Catching Fire]. She's struggling with post-traumatic stress from the Games. She has a very new life – she doesn't have to worry about food anymore in the Victors Village."
Lawrence was joined on stage by director Francis Lawrence, Hutcherson and fellow cast members Liam Hemsworth, Lenny Kravitz, Willow Shields and new additions to the team, Jena Malone and Jeffrey Wright.
The sequel ups the stakes considerably and the trailer shows Donald Sutherland's nefarious President Snow plotting to rid the districts of Katniss as he realises her power as a focus for the rebellion. The scope and quality of effects appeared to have made a significant leap from the 2012 original.
Prior to the Catching Fire panel attendees got the chance to learn more about I, Frankenstein. Aaron Eckhart stars as the horror staple who has been updated for the 21st century.
Gone is the lumbering beast in favour of a svelte Eckhart who fights with kali sticks and is battling two ancient clans. Director Stuart Beattie and co-writer Kevin Grevioux, a cast member in the Underworld series, have created a similar sensibility to that of Underworld with its dark recesses, gothic architecture and endless waves of supernatural adversaries.
Eckhart's monster looks like… well, Eckhart, and Beattie explained that when the character travels back to 1795 he resembles more of a patched-up creature along the lines of what one would expect from Mary Shelley's book.
"Stuart wanted a fit Frankenstein," said Eckhart. "It was a very physical film but it all paid off." I, Frankenstein opens in the UK and US on January 24, 2014.
The Lionsgate panel started with a trailer for the forthcoming release You're Next from rising star Adam Winguard. The horror movie was one of the hits of the 2011 Toronto film festival and is a home invasion dinner where mysterious masked intruders kill participants at a dinner party. Not much longer to go now – You're Next is released at the end of August in the US and US.
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