Francis Lawrence and Elizabeth Banks to Be Honored at Cinema Con

Francis Lawrence and Elizabeth Banks will be honored with "Director of the Year" and "Breakthrough Filmmaker of the Year" at Cinema Con on April 23rd. The 5th annual the convention of The National Association of Theatre Owners (NATO), will be held April 20 – 23, 2015, at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. 

Mitch Neuhauser, Managing Director of CinemaCon says of Francis Lawrence's "Director of the Year" honor :

"Since making his feature film debut ten years ago, Francis Lawrence has mesmerized moviegoing audiences with his own unique and inventive style," noted Neuhauser. "A true visionary, Lawrence is sure to captivate audiences next fall when ‘The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2,’ the eagerly anticipated finale of the box-office franchise, hits our theaters. We couldn’t think of a more deserving director and are thrilled to be honoring him with the ‘CinemaCon® Director of the Year Award.’"

On Elizabeth Banks' "Breakthrough Filmmaker of the Year" award: 

"One of Hollywood’s most versatile actresses and a force to be reckoned with behind the scenes at Brownstone Productions, Elizabeth Banks draws some of her cast’s finest performances to date as she helms "Pitch Perfect 2," noted Neuhauser. "Elizabeth is already a well-deserving CinemaCon honoree for her talents as a performer, and we could not be more excited to honor her as the ’CinemaCon Breakthrough Filmmaker of the Year’ as she makes the transition behind the camera to direct her first feature.’"

Lawrence and Banks will be presented with their special honors at the "CinemaCon Big Screen Achievement Awards" ceremony on Thursday, April 23, at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace. There hasn't been any official annoucement of a Mockingjay Part 2 presentation at Cinema Con this year, but since 2 of the Mockingjay family are already attending, we can only hope.

In 2013, Francis Lawrence, Elizabeth Banks and Liam Hemsworth did a Catching Fire presentation at the Lionsgate panel, showing attendees the (already released) teaser trailer and talking about the film.