Jennifer Lawrence spy thriller Red Sparrow will be a ‘Hard R’

She’s teaming up with Hunger Games director Francis Lawrence to play a Russian intelligence officer.

Words

Amy Bowker

Jennifer Lawrence’s next project with Hunger Games director Francis Lawrence (no relation) promises to be a significant departure from the fantasy world of Panem.

At the unveiling of some first-look footage of Red Sparrow, which sees the actress play a ballerina-turned-Russian spy, director Francis Lawrence highlighted the mature nature of the film.

Based on former CIA operative Jason Matthews’ spy fiction book of the same name, the film follows Dominika Egorova (Lawrence) as she struggles to navigate the bureaucracy of post-Soviet intelligence.

Drafted against her will to become a Sparrow (a trained seductress for the service), Dominika is assigned to operate against Nathaniel Nash, an American CIA operative.

“It’s definitely R,” Lawrence revealed at the London preview event on Friday 5 May. “When I read the book and made the pitch to the studio about what the approach would be, this was a definite R. Nobody has chickened out or got cold feet, everybody’s gone for it from the beginning. It’s a hard R.”

Red Sparrow co-stars Joel Edgerton, Jeremy Irons, Matthias Schoenaerts, Mary Louise Parker and Charlotte Rampling, and marks the first occasion that Lawrence and Lawrence have worked together since 2015, when filming wrapped on Mockingjay – Part 2.

Lawrence also revealed that there is just one week of shooting to complete, with the final stages of production currently underway in London. Red Sparrow is due in cinemas March 2018.

Published 8 May 2017

Tags: Francis Lawrence Jennifer Lawrence

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