Director Francis Lawrence discussed the topic of his new film The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes having a release window close to GTA VI. This Hunger Games prequel is scheduled for release in November. Facing the possibility that both works might attract the same batch of entertainment consumers around the same time, he jokingly said he hopes people will play GTA VI, watch the movie, and then continue playing the game.
When discussing his personal favorite games, Lawrence listed Metal Gear, BioShock, Call of Duty, and the original GTA. He stated that he didn't continue playing subsequent GTA titles, but the technical performance displayed by the original game left a deep impression on him when it was released.
Lawrence is currently responsible for Netflix's live-action BioShock movie. He revealed that Gore Verbinski had invited him to participate in the project as early as 2009, but he was unable to join at the time due to scheduling conflicts.
Afterwards, Guillermo del Toro also negotiated to direct the live-action BioShock movie, but the project did not proceed with this plan due to his differences of opinion with the game's creators.
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Francis Lawrence, the director of Netflix's BioShock movie, revealed his favorite video games to IGN, and we have to admit, he really knows his games.
You may know Lawrence through The Hunger Games film series. After all, he directed almost every installment, and recently he directed the upcoming prequel film The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, which will be released this November.
Lawrence has directed numerous box-office hits based on adaptations, and now he is directing the live-action BioShock movie for Netflix—a project that has been in development for nearly 20 years. Given that he claims to be a loyal fan of the series, we couldn't help but ask him about his favorite games.
He told IGN, "Well, for me, the most classic games are Metal Gear, BioShock, and Call of Duty. And the original GTA. I think I only played the first GTA, but when it first came out, its technical level was truly astonishing. However, I feel that these games are all my favorites."
When we mentioned the upcoming GTA VI, Lawrence complained that the game's release date is so close to his movie The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.
"Unfortunately, I feel it's coming out around the same time as our movie. I hope everyone can find time to enjoy both. Play GTA, go see our movie, and then go back to playing GTA," he joked.
We had the chance to chat with Lawrence about his BioShock movie project. He stated that Gore Verbinski had proposed the project to him as early as 2009. However, due to scheduling conflicts, he was unable to take it on at the time. Later, Guillermo del Toro also negotiated to direct the film, but as Lawrence put it, he and the game creator "had differences of opinion."
However, the version Guillermo del Toro told us was far less gentle. In an interview with IGN's 30 Icons series, Guillermo del Toro said, "We had a very intense call regarding several games... such as the adaptation of BioShock, we had several calls about it. That was probably one of the worst calls I've ever experienced. So, no, absolutely not."
Lawrence is also preparing to direct a film adaptation of the young adult novel series Red Rising by Pierce Brown. This project also experienced a long period of development hell, but eventually found a home at Paramount Pictures and secured a screenwriter to pen the script.