Jennifer Lawrence Removed From Hunger Games Posters In Israel

Fearing they the standard theatrical posters would be vandalized by religious extremists, promotional art for The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part Two has removed the lead character in two Israeli neighborhoods.

Entertainment Weekly reports that the two neighborhoods have large ultra-orthodox populations and take umbrage to depictions of women in art. One of the two has gone so far as to officially censor such displays in public.

While the story itself makes it sound like Israeli law would supercede those local bans and allow the posters to hang if the studio wanted, the decision has been made to be sensitive to local sentiment, since there is a history of previous posters being defaced in those communities.

"Unfortunately we are subject to unofficial coercion that forces us to be more careful," said Liron Suissam VP of marketing at Nu Star Media, which is handling the Mockingjay posters. "We have had endless vandalization, and clients prefer not to take the chance. We allow everything, but we recommend hanging another visual when necessary. The decision is the client's."

The poster, which depicted Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everden against the backdrop of a fiery mockingjay sigil, has been replaced with a similar poster where that Katniss has been removed, leaving only the logo and text.