Nina Jacobson Says it Was “The Right Call” on Francis Lawrence

Interesting. A tacit admission that she, at least, was not initially sure it was the right call.

I was furious when Ross left, but after my anger subsided I saw there were some things he got right and others he got very, very wrong. Lawrence may make similar mistakes or worse, but I have more faith in his ability to tell a good story and direct a good action sequence. I actually liked Constantine and I Am Legend, and I’m pleased we’ll have continuity with Lawrence helming CF and both parts of MJ.

@SPM- please, explain those alleged things he got “very, very wrong” cause I think we’d all love to hear your perspective

@rory – that was your takeaway? Kind of misses the point.

Anyway, I’ve detailed those things many times in these very pages over the past several months, so I see no need to relitigate them now. Feel free to look up some of my posts dating from the premiere onward if you like.

And check it – if you think my utterance about Ross was scandalous, brace yourself for this:

I don’t think the books are perfect, either.

It’s okay, I’ll give you a minute.

this makes me feel a lot better..
wheeew!!

Wow guys… wow

yaaaay nina! i really do love her, i like how she always sounds like such a logic-oriented person, but also so caring at the same time– and this interview sort of highlighted both aspects for me.

i’m glad she thinks francis lawrence was the right choice. while i won’t make my own mind up about it until i can watch the movie (obviously), she really does sound sincere to me, and i think it’s her opinion on it more than anyone else’s that makes me feel reassured.

I’m not sure I trust this woman… she’s the one that stated that when it came down to casting “You shouldn’t listen to the fanbase”

So certainly her interest is to make a movie that makes money, not that satisfies the fans (Finnick is a clear example of this. They seriously could get a better and better looking actor than Sam).

Also if I remember correctly, she was all up for making Gale go to the capitol dressed as an avox just so he could be near to Katniss…

Why would any movie producer say ‘oh the director for a movie I’m producing is doing a bad job’. Of course she’s gonna say he’s doing a good job.

Just so you guys know, Taylor swift and the civil wars song of the hunger games album Safe and Sound was just nominated for a Grammy

Let me change that, safe and sound was nominated for 2 and Abraham’s daughter was nominated for 1

@Death2analog.

I have to disagree with you. First of all, you can’t always listen to the fanbase. They don’t see the auditions or know everthing about an actor/ress. People complained about the casting in HG but look how it turned out!

I can’t say I was excited about the Finnick casting, but I’m going to wait until the movie to decide if they made the right choice or not.

As for your last comment, I never heard that. Very interesting if it’s actually true…makes me glad Suzanne Collins was there to make sure they didn’t make a movie about a completly different story.

Anyway, that’s just my opinion.

“I’m not sure I trust this woman… she’s the one that stated that when it came down to casting “You shouldn’t listen to the fanbase””

And she is 100% right. Many of the fandom favorites for THG roles have been awful choices. (Betty White for Mags?! I’m guessing it’s because she’s the only 80-year old actress many people have heard of. Not to mention various talentless pretty boys who look like Calvin Klein models that some fans wanted to play Peeta, even though their only qualification was eye and hair color.)

“So certainly her interest is to make a movie that makes money, not that satisfies the fans ”
You mean, her interest is to make an actually GOOD movie that wider audiences may appreciate, rather than give you some fanservice?

” (Finnick is a clear example of this. They seriously could get a better and better looking actor than Sam).”
Looks are a matter of taste. I happen to think that Sam Claflin is very good-looking, and better looking than most of the actors I’ve seen mentioned by fans as possible Finnicks. Some of those suggestions for “better” Finnicks included popular actors that I find incredibly unattractive and that many people find talentless, but whose main qualification to be Finnick was, apparently, the size of their pecs. Some other suggestions included actors who look younger than Josh Hutcherson and Jennifer Lawrence.

I can’t say how good an actor Claflin is, since I haven’t seen him in anything yet (though I’m just about to watch POTC 4), but I assume that he must have impressed them in his audition, because that seems to have been how they cast most of the roles so far – acting skills and the ability to bring a character to life has been more important than getting the exact physical details from the book, which so many of the fans seem obsessed with. Therefore I’m guessing Claflin didn’t get the role just because he’s got green eyes. I would think that you need to wait at least to see his performance as Finnick before you start criticizing it.

@Wormow: The real question is, why would a movie producer who thought a director was doing a bad job hire said director to direct the remaining two movies in the franchise? My guess is, they wouldn’t.

As regards NJ and the first THG script… an old interview at E! Online:

And guess what—Suzanne Collins was totally on board with this—fairly radical, most loyal Mockingjays would argue—reinterpretation of the novel.

“She was very much a part of the conversation. She’s very receptive. She’s very smart. She was very open to the idea of having more Gale,” Ms. Jacobson explained. “I think she was more open to it than I was, actually. We would have arguments about it. I wanted to go back to the more faithful version; she was more receptive to these changes.”

I think Nina’s very smart, and that the trilogy is in good hands.

@Kaleiney – thanks for pointing that out. I remember arguing some time ago against the idea that we had to have blind faith in SC, she wouldn’t let them change things too drastically, etc., when things like that old interview proved otherwise.

@Ivana – that’s dead on about the fanbase. I was distressed to see who people wanted for Peeta and Finnick and I’m glad Nina was smart enough not to listen. The looks argument only holds up to a certain point.

Oops, 9:36 was me.

I think Ivana hits the nail right on the head.

Ivana put it perfectly.

And as a producer, you CAN’T listen to the fanbase’s opinions too strongly. Yes, they’re great to consider, but doing so highly can be detrimental. You can’t take a book and make it immediately into a movie. A book does not sound/look good in movie form, and vice versa. Nina’s job is to helm a successful movie that appeals to everyone, not just the book’s fans, and I think she, along with the rest of the team, did a pretty good job at that. If there’s one person that I trust more than anyone, it’s Nina.

The problem with FL is that he’s an all around normal director and will do whatever the studios tells him to do. Gary Ross was someone with a passion for the series and did almost everything. Did it at his own pace, made the changes he thought necessary, etc. FL hasn’t even read the series prior to being hired the job. They probably had him back as he is someone who they can control easily.

@Wormow I think doing everything yourself is a bad thing. Somebody who didnt make the script will see if the movie makes sense. The problem with Gary Ross was he did everything so he really couldnt tell if a scene made sense to others because he wrote it. Some things in the Hunger Games movie went without an explanation which caused many to hate it. I did love Gary Ross as a director but I think Francis is going to be a better director because he will be working on the movie with help with the other people instead of doing it himself. ( I dont know if that makes sense but this is how i feel )

@Isaac – you have it in one. At times Ross was a little too precious with his art, like claiming his directorial vision was so complete that there wouldn’t be an extended version or the release of deleted scenes. Sometimes taking counsel from others is not a bad thing. I guess we’ll see how Lawrence does with that.