LMU Alum Francis Lawrence Honored with Robert Altman Award at 2026 Spirit Awards

On Sunday, February 15, the 2026 Film Independent Spirit Awards celebrated its 41st edition at the Hollywood Palladium, honoring standout achievements in film and television over the past year.

Among this year's honorees was LMU alum, director, and producer Francis Lawrence '91, who received the Robert Altman Award for "The Long Walk," alongside casting director Rich Delia and his ensemble cast, including Mark Hamill, Judy Greer, Cooper Hoffman, David Jonsson, Tut Nyuot, Joshua Odjick, Charlie Plummer, Ben Wang, and Garrett Wareing.

The film marks the first collaboration between Lawrence and Delia and showcases emerging talent led by Hoffman and Jonsson with veteran performers, such as Greer playing Hoffman's mother and Hamill as The Major, to round out the cast.

Created in 2008, the Robert Altman Award was named in honor of the legendary film director, renowned for assembling large, dynamic casts often anchored by character actors. Altman is best known for films including "M*A*S*H," "McCabe & Mrs. Miller," "The Long Goodbye," "Nashville," "The Player," and "Gosford Park."

Actress Rebecca Hall presented the award to Lawrence and his ensemble at the Spirit Awards, noting, "Today, we honor the director, casting director, and key cast of a film that stands as a contemporary embodiment of Altman's cinematic vision."

Taking the stage alongside Delia and his cast, Lawrence reflected on the significance of receiving an award named for such an iconic independent filmmaker and sang the praises of his remarkable ensemble. "I've spent a lot of time thinking about the collective and collaborative effort it takes to make a movie," he confided. "But what's incredible is that sitting in this room as filmmakers - we fall in love with stories, we fall in love with characters, we fall in love with worlds. And we travel away to places very far from home, we put together these teams, and they become family. These become very important people in the stories of our lives."

He concluded his speech by thanking novelist Stephen King, whose original book laid the foundation for the screen adaptation of "The Long Walk." First published in 1979 under the pseudonym Richard Bachman and written as an allegory for the Vietnam War, the novel explores a dystopic world in which young men compete in a deadly annual marathon staged as national entertainment - an event that ends with only one survivor.

Translating the story to the screen has taken nearly half a century. When the project eventually landed at Lionsgate, Lawrence, who has directed every "Hunger Games" film aside from the first, emerged as a natural fit to take the reins as director. His prior experience depicting high-stakes, fight-to-the-death narratives uniquely positioned him to realize King's brutal, haunting vision of a country ravaged by authoritarian rule.

Despite the novel's dark themes, Lawrence has said that the underlying brotherhood and humanity at the center of "The Long Walk" deeply resonated with him and became essential to his approach to directing the adaptation. That same emphasis on camaraderie is reflected offscreen as well in the ensemble he and Delia brought together, whose work has now been collectively recognized at this year's Spirit Awards.

LMU School of Film and Television Dean Joanne Moore attended the ceremony to celebrate Lawrence's extraordinary achievement and his enduring influence on the film and TV industry. "Francis has consistently elevated the art of ensemble storytelling throughout his career," Moore said, "His dedication to his craft and collaborative spirit is precisely what makes him such a powerful force in filmmaking. We are immensely proud to call Francis an LMU alumnus and to see the skills and values he developed here reflected in his work."

A graduate of the film production program at LMU, Lawrence has maintained strong ties to the university over the years, earning LMU's Distinguished Alumni Award in 2011 and returning to campus for a screening of his film "The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes" in 2023. This latest honor adds to his growing list of achievements and further underscores the importance of his work.