Comic-Con 2013: Lionsgate Panel Highlights

The second Hall H panel at Saturday’s San Diego Comic-Con was for Lionsgate. The two films featured were I, Frankenstein and The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. We were there to see it all, so read our highlights after the break.

I, Frankenstein started off with director Stuart Beattie, writer Kevin Grevioux (who also wrote the graphic novel the film is based on), and actors Yvonne Strahovski and Aaron Eckhart on the panel. The premise is that Frankenstein’s monster has survived until modern times, now calling himself Adam Frankenstein, and he is now caught in the middle of an ancient mythological war. Eckhart had to learn kali stick fighting and even had a Cirque de Soleil trainer. Beattie’s goal was to not have traditional acton scenes like car chases. There is a lot more hand-to-hand combat. Strahovski plays an electrophysiologist who doesn’t believe in the myth of Frankenstein. We got to see a sizzle reel, and it wasn’t all that impressive. There is plenty of action, but there’s not much emotional meat to it, and the style is pretty generic. Also, Eckhart looks too handsome to be a Frankenstein monster. This was partially explained at the panel by Stuart Beattie. After centuries of being alive, his scars and other nasty features have faded some.

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire was the main event, and the panel didn’t disappoint. On the panel were director Francis Lawrence and castmembers Jennifer Lawrence, Liam Hemsworth, Josh Hutcherson, Jena Malone, Willow Shields, Lenny Kravitz, and Jeffrey Wright. Lawrence explained that the challenges for her character Katniss starting off in the film are that she has Post Traumatic Stress Disorder from the Game, plus she feels like she has no purpose since she’s so rich she doesn’t need to do anything. Also, now Peeta understands her more than Gale, which helps make the love triangle more complicated. Peeta now knows Katniss’ love for him was an act, but he has to figure out how to deal with his feelings for her. Francis Lawrence actually created the beat sheet for the movie with the novel’s writer Susan Collins. When asked how was making this film was most different from what you expected, the director said this one of the best groups of people to work with, and he’s pleased with the emotional scale of the movie. Jennifer Lawrence was hilarious as usual and told a funny story about a kiss with Hutcherson gone wrong. There was a big string of snot that came from her nose to his mouth. It was obviously reshot for the film, but they might include in on the home release as a deleted scene. Kravitz talked about how being in this franchise has opened up a whole new generation to his day job music. Jennifer had to learn free running to help her train for her role this time, but just like last time, she didn’t diet at all.

We got to see the brand new trailer as well, but unfortunately only we got only a quick glimpse of the new arena. Watch for yourself below.