Jennifer Lawrence Prepares for War in 'Hunger Games: Mockingjay' Photo

When The Hunger Games: Catching Fire came to
an end, Katniss was being whisked away to the
secretive District 13, to help lead the rebellion
against the Capitol and President Snow ( Donald
Sutherland).
Director Francis Lawrence revealed that this is a
particularly difficult time for Katniss, on an
emotional level.
"It's a very confusing, conflicted, complicated
time for Katniss. Having gone through the games
one more time and having lost Peeta and having
been run through the wringer, she's even more
damaged. So you find her in a more agitated
place. She's distraught, confused, angry."
The director is at the helm for both of the final
installments, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part
1 and next year's The Hunger Games: Mockingjay
Part 2, with the first installment giving fans the
first glimpses of the war between District 13 and
the Capitol, although there are still some
moments of humor.
"There's definitely some battles. There's some of
the first glimpses of real war in this movie. And
the scale gets quite big. There's an atonal shift
from some of the last movies, but they're still
very emotional, very sweeping, [on a] grand scale
with some levity and humor."
The filmmaker also worked closely with author
Suzanne Collins , screenwriter Peter Craig and
producer Nina Jacobson to create new elements
that will be surprising to fans of the book.
"Instead of changing the plot and changing
characters what we did was have the opportunity
to show scenes that could have been happening
at different times in the book. For us it's world
expansion instead of changing things. I think it's
exciting for the fan to see certain things. So
we've been able to open the world up in this and
see some new places. We get to see some new
districts this time and the scope gets quite large."
One of the new casting additions in The Hunger
Games: Mockingjay Part 1 is Julianne Moore as
District 13 leader Alma Coin, whose role has been
expanded in this two-part finale.
"What's interesting is although she's a huge
character in Mockingjay the book, there's actually
very little of her in it. There's more of her in this
than in the book and because of that, there's
some development."
The filmmaker did confirm that the love triangle
between Katniss, Peeta ( Josh Hutcherson) and
Gale ( Liam Hemsworth ) will still be present in this
adaptation.
"With Mockingjay - Part I it's tricky because
Peeta is out of reach for her. Obviously he
becomes an objective for her, but Gale is right
there, so that's always a tricky situation."
The filmmaker won't reveal where the split
between The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1
and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2
occurs, but he did reveal that both installments
will have their own distinct stories.
"That's going to be one of the really good
surprises. (They have) two different, very distinct
stories. Those objectives became the motives for
us. This is where the meaning of the entire series
comes into play. The answer to why these books
exist exists in Mockingjay, and that's really been
exciting to me. That's been kind of what I've
hung on to through these stories."