Francis Lawrence (born March 26, 1971)[1] is an Austrian-born American filmmaker and producer.[2][3] After establishing himself as a director of music videos and commercials, Lawrence made his feature-length directorial debut with the superhero thriller Constantine (2005) and has since directed the post-apocalyptic horror film I Am Legend (2007), the romantic drama Water for Elephants (2011), the dystopian science fiction adventure series The Hunger Games (2013–present), the spy thriller Red Sparrow (2018), and the dystopian horror drama The Long Walk (2025).
Early life
Lawrence was born to American parents in Vienna, Austria. His father was a theoretical physicist who taught at California State University, Northridge, and his mother is a vice president of technology at a public-relations agency based in his hometown.[4][5]
He moved to Los Angeles at the age of four.[4] Lawrence worked as second assistant camera on the feature Pump Up the Volume directed by Allan Moyle prior to earning his bachelor's degree in film production at Loyola Marymount University Film School.
He went on to work as first assistant director on the feature Marching Out of Time directed by Anton Vassil in 1993. Lawrence then joined ex-classmate Michael Jason Rosen in co-directing music videos. Lawrence directed his first music videos for the San Jose band A Western Front. Rosen and Lawrence made the two videos for a total of $3,000 with Jeffrey Michael Cutter, another ex-classmate, shooting for them. Lawrence, Rosen, and Cutter also made a video for Michael Blakey, president of Atico Records and Tidal Force drummer, for that band's single, "A Man Rides Through". Soon, Lawrence became known for his original and imaginative music video scripts and visual directing style.
In April 2012, Lionsgate announced that Lawrence had been selected to direct the film adaptation of the novel Catching Fire.[8][9] The book and film were the sequel to the blockbuster hit The Hunger Games, starring Jennifer Lawrence (no relation). This film adaptation of The Hunger Games was directed by Gary Ross, and both novels were written by Suzanne Collins. Lawrence was officially confirmed as the director for the film on May 3, 2012.[10]
Lawrence signed on to direct The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, an adaptation of the Hunger Gamesprequel novel by original author Suzanne Collins, in April 2020. The film was released on November 17, 2023.[12][13][14]
In March 2021, his about:blank production company struck a deal with New Republic Pictures.[15] Their first project together will be an adaptation of the Philip K. Dick novel Vulcan's Hammer, announced in November 2021.[16] In March 2022, it was announced that Lawrence would be directing a feature adaptation of Kevin J. Anderson and Steven L. Sears’ Stalag-X, to be written by Joy Wilkinson.[17] In April 2022, it was announced that Lawrence will be one of the executive producers of Chief of War for Apple TV+.[18]
In August 2022, TheWrap reported that Lawrence had signed with Netflix to direct an adaptation of BioShock, inspired by the 2K Games franchise. In September of the same year, Deadline reported that the director would also be returning to direct a sequel to Constantine.
↑movies, Chris Lee Chris Lee is a former Los Angeles Times staff writer who covered; music; media; culture, Hollywood (February 19, 2005). "From MTV to wrestling with Satan". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 27, 2011.
