Francis Lawrence - Biography

Born in Vienna, Austria and raised in Los Angeles since he was three, director Francis Lawrence got his start making music videos nearly by accident. After graduation from Loyola Marymount, Lawrence began shooting music videos in the mid-1990s for an independent label owned by a friend. Five years later, he was directing videos for some of the biggest artists in the businessAerosmith, Janet Jackson, Britney Spears and Gwen Stefani to name a few. He soon entered the world of feature filmmaking with his first effort, Constantine (2005), a supernatural thriller with religious overtones and a dash of film noir based on the DC Comic book series, <I>Hellblazer</I>. His only challenge to becoming a feature director was the films starKeanu Reeves had told manager Warner Bros. executives that he wanted no music video directorsa request that should have eliminated Lawrence from the competition before he stepped foot in the gate. But the director wooed Reeves in a meeting with detailed storyboards and a mind for the complexities of the character. Impressed, Reeves used his carte blanche to get Lawrence the job.

Lawrence was immediately beset by fans of the comic book series who raised hell over the casting of Reevesthey complained he wasnt faithful to the original character, who was blonde and British; the antithesis of Reeves black-haired Southern Californian dude. But test screenings of the movie were glowing and the comic book purists were forced to accept the former Matrix messiah as the tormented demon hunter obsessed with sending Satans minions back to hell with the hope of saving his own dark soul. Despite a flurry of stunning special effectsthe scenes from hell were some of the most graphic caught on filmand a complex anti-hero, critics were less-than-thrilled with Lawrences freshman outing. The built-in comic book audience wasnt enough to capture a number one spot opening weekend, though the movie fared well enough. Meanwhile, Lawrence continued directing music videos and looking for his next feature project.