Cool News
The ENDER'S GAME Movie May've Found A New Director...
Merrick here...
The L.A. Times says that Gavin Hood (director of TSOTSI and X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE) has done some work on Orson Scott Card's script adaptation of his own ENDER'S GAME novel and is now "developing the project as a director."
This is certainly a significant development for the project, although it's important to remember that an ENDER'S movie has been in the work for some time now, so who knows exactly where this will go? For a long while, Wolfgang Petersen was attached to an adaptation of the film that didn't come together - he famously bailed back in 2008 (details HERE).
ENDER'S GAME (available HERE
) first appeared in novel form back in 1985 spawning 12(ish) sequels/spinoffs. So, if someone can actually get this picture up and running...and it performs well...we could be looking at a substantive franchise here. We'll see how things play out with Hood on-board.
More at the L.A. Times HERE.
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Readers Talkback
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Holy shit! Anyhow, Ender's Game should be an animated movie. NO question in my mind
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As I was saying: IN order to do Ender's Game justice as a movie, it should be animated. First, have fun finding a child actor to play Ender, from age 5 to age 13, with the kind of emotional depth that the character needs. Then find 20 other good child actors to play the rest of the kids. Second, the kids in the battle school spend a lot of time naked, with a big fight scene that goes on in a shower. Try getting that past the censors with real kids, unless you just want to show only faces for most of the film. Third, the battle-room sequences should be done in zero-gravity. Now, without extensive scenes on the Vomit Comet, which would be hugely expensive, and the plane isn't very big in the first place, or extensive wire-work (which always looks like wire-work) this would be tough to manage. Animation would allow the camera to move freely around the battle room, from all angles, giving the kind of disorienting zero-gee experience it should be, especially in 3D. The special effects would all be easier and cheaper to produce, you could get better actors to play the parts as voice actors, than you could as "face" actors. I can think of 50 reasons to make a good, honest, grown-up animated movie that deals with some difficult subjects, and for the younger viewers, doesn't treat them like babies, and really, none in defense of making it live-action, except maybe as a technical exercise that would fail from a story-and-acting viewpoint. (I'm looking at you, Avatar.)
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not so great book.<p> people wonder why this has been stuck in development hell for so long. i say it's hard to dramatise a book about little kids playing zero g tag.
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Great, classic first book - the next two were interesting but I can't say I loved them (but they were not compelling enough to keep going). Ender's Shadow was actually quite interesting and at the time a very novel idea, but then everything after that goes downhill fast. Card has a lot more interesting books out there than the now constantly recycling Ender's series - read "Pastwatch" instead.
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Realistically, only Ender's Game/Ender's Shadow would work as decent movies. The other shadow books, and especially Enders trilogy as an adult would confuse and/or disinterest people who hadn't read the books. Make one 3.5 hour spectacular about Game AND Shadow, and call it a day. But not with Gavin fucking Hood. Fuck that clown.
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...they don't combine Ender's Shadow with Ender's Game. Ender's Game has rich more than enough material for a feature film.
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It simply cannot be done well.
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Sept. 21, 2010, 10:25 a.m. CST
Why all the nakedness? Do they have to be that religious to the
by impossibledreamers
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.... an article about "Eastenders"??? On AICN??? Never thought I'd see the day.
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havnt seen his movies.
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First of all, 'Wolverine' was a studio hack job, not a Gavin Hood failure.<BR> <BR> Second, there is no franchine here. Everything after Ender's Game and Ender's Shadow is so radically different in tone that most film audienced wouldn't even try to make that leap.<BR> <BR> 'Ender's Game' is all action adventure and coming-of-age with a neat twist. Most everything else is all political, philosophical, and metaphysical. Enjoyable, to be sure, but I can't see 'Speaker for the Dead' or 'Xenocide' as movies with any kind of broad appeal.
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The zero gravity sequence in Inception was VERY convincing. If Ender's Game can get the same budget that Nolan had to work with, they could definitely make the battle room scenes bad ass!
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Someone mentioned it. Great book and it would make an awesome film if done by someone capable.
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...they stay true to the book and film this. 10 year olds killing other kids in futuristic West Point for egg-headed tykes...
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You just know the film's central twist will be revealed in the trailers, rendering the film experience about as exciting watching a friend play Halo: Reach for two hours while fully knowing the outcome.
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That guy will probably fuck it up!
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Sophmore slump
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and i dont see that happening. all i see is a kid training to be commander and showing him playing games. and then some Scott Pilgram scenes.
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could be intense if done creatively.
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There are two good books and they're doing them in one movie. Any franchise that tries to get off the ground with a film version of SPEAKER FOR THE DEAD will die horribly, and should.
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You are surely mistaken sir. Writing sequels to a novel isn't milking a series. Its simply adding more story. For milking of a series, please re-direct your attention to Star Wars. THAT'S how you milk a sci-fi franchise, sir. Good day.
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I agree that this has to be animated, and it would present a real chance of pace for Pixar. Not sure Disney would like it, though. <br> <br> No way can anyone adequately cast this with proper-age actors, and if they up the age of the actors, the lost much of the story's essence. Also, the zero-g battles will be cost-prohibitive to film.
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You can't have Children below a certain age be taken seriously as characters. <BR> Add about 6-10 years to their ages and I'll buy it. I've been spouting this for years now ( on AICN even ) becuase I'm a huge Ender fan, but even when I was reading, I was subconsciously adding 10 years to their ages. <BR><BR> You can get away with it in print, because somehow your brain can get past the giggles of a little 4 foot 12 year old kid in "battle school" and his older brother and sister who somehow manage to have real influence on the entire world's politics <BR><BR>It just won't work in a movie.
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Sept. 21, 2010, 12:15 p.m. CST
i think the main character should be 10 years old indeed
by DioxholsterReturns
5 years old is just way way too young and unbelievable. plus 10 years old is still young. hopefully it doesnt end up looking like Spy Kids
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oh and also another vote for never ever trying to turn any of the sequels into a movie.
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Young children word on the printed page but they won't work that well on the big screen. I've long maintained that Phantom Menace would have been far better if Lucas had made Anakin 14-15.
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This movie won't work as a live action. Child actors just can't do the characters justice.
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I bought it because everyone on here raved about the damn thing. I found it fairly dull and generic, with a "twist" that could be seen coming some way off. And kids are annoying on film almost always. They can't carry a film. Oh, I know why they;re making this - Harry Potter in space. Shit.
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...A Prayer for Owen Meany. Really good book that can't be made in to a really good movie. Leave it alone.
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Sept. 21, 2010, 1:27 p.m. CST
I just hope we get a sense of detachment from space war action
by DioxholsterReturns
because in the book you werent really in the fight, it was strategic.
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Hope they change that
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So, the guy is a right wing dude. Let´s hate on him! Only leftwingers have the right to live in the land of the free, apparently.
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But from a mass-marketing standpoint, a ridiculously tough sell. As with many things in life, most people simply aren't smart or thoughtful enough to allow such things to be made. So we get the junk that's in the multiplex now instead.
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Sept. 21, 2010, 1:57 p.m. CST
Ditko, it'd be fine if they didn't want to take away our rights
by kevred
If they'd just stop telling everyone else how to live, who to marry, what to put in their bodies, who to worship, etc. - and cementing all of their personal views into laws - then they'd be more acceptable.
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There is a difference from having political stances and saying that there is a grouping of second-class citizenry that should be denied any of the basic comforts or laws given to each and every US Citizen solely based on how you were born. OSC is a hyper-reactionary hate-mongerer who happens to write amazing books from time to time, but those that bash on him have very valid complaints.
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how different is it?
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I guess you forgot that it's 2010...
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Yes, the zero-G sequence in Inception was well-done. However, that was 2 guys, in a contained hallway, with fairly limited camera moves. Ender's game has a few dozen people, in a huge open space, with few visual references, and they can't just "run" along the walls. For Ender's Game, I'd want a camera that was as free-floating as the kids. The only real comparison I could make is filming a skydiver, where you can focus on a subject, but have a 360-degree sphere of free movement around him, moving closer and farther away, the camera twisting and turning in a very fluid motion. You could watch a focus puller go absolutely berserk in my vision of those scenes.
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No I didn't. You COULD do all the scenes I'm envisioning in CGI, with "virtual stuntmen" but I doubt that you could cross the Uncanny Valley and make it look seamless. At least if everything's animated, then everything's supposed to look like that. Plus, yeah, it's 2010. You try putting a bunch of nude 6-12 year old boys and girls on the screen, in the US.
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I wonder if it can make a good film though. Child actors are tricky. Perhaps they will have to up the age of the characters slightly to find actors that can emote well. <P> Too bad OSC is a loon though. Over the years he has become an ultra conservative wacko.
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lets see how they do
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Sept. 21, 2010, 3:21 p.m. CST
i think little girls are better actors than little boys
by DioxholsterReturns
i noticed that. whether its on TV or movies, you are more likely to find better 5 yr old girl actors than boys of the same age. they are just not as believable.
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I say yes. Read it promptly. I haven't read all of the books but I found it to be the most interesting successor.<p>And "Ender's Game"...I never got why anyone would declare the very linearly ploted guys in costumes standing in rooms "Watchmen" to be "unfilmable" but I definitely think "Ender's Game" has a degree of "unfilmable". How do we SHOW people making sense of and understanding spacial relativism and adapting to it? Though this could be a movie which would truly benefit from 3d glasses tech.
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Notorious Mormon homophobe bigot. I do not give money to zealotry.
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Wolverine was a horrible movie!!! Ender's Game deserves an elite director and production team.
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Sept. 21, 2010, 4:59 p.m. CST
Francis Ford Coppola Would Be A Great Director For Ender's Game
by Media Messiah
He has the mature intelligence and wisdom to do it.
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Sept. 21, 2010, 5:15 p.m. CST
Haldeman's THE FOREVER WAR, Steakley's ARMOR, & Scalzi's OLD MAN
by lv_426
Are three military/sci-fi novels I'd rather see adapted into films. They would all be easier adaptations as well.<P>Rereading Armor not too long ago, I got the impression that a film version might work if done 300 style. Especially the beginning drop and battle on Banshee.
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what you think it means.
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We had a good transformers Anime 24 years ago. And it was indeed awesome.
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that's it. anyone else, and I will burn Utica to the ground.
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Spielberg...just saying
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That was my first choice. My second was Kubrick, but he's unavailable, starhopping beyond the infinite...
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"Speaker of the Dead" is outstanding. The best (soft) SF examines the human condition in ways that can't be done in traditional fiction. This is a prime example of that.
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The twist in Ender's Game is a twist done right. It's not an arbitrary gotcha, and the plot doesn't hinge on it (although it does set up Ender's character for the remaining books). Instead, it puts everything before it in a different perspective.
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by either Andrew Niccol or Peter Weir. Otherwise, forget it.
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That Card wrote about the "nets", and how powerful they could be used for discussion forums, waaaay back in 1985. Al Gore hadn't even invented the Internet yet!
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I loved "Tsotsi" and think Gavin Hood would make an excellent "Ender's Game" film.<p> The braindead "Wolverine: Origins" was horrible, I'll admit, but I don't think Hood had much to do with the final product. The suits did, which is why it sucked.<p> If the studio gives Hood some leeway instead of crushing him with producer suggestions, I think he could make a pretty terrific film. I'd like to see it.
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Enders Game and Ender's Shadow are about about kids being trained for military command in an alien war. It about the children first and foremost, specifically Ender and his siblings, who are arguably the three smart people alive. You don't really get to see the aliens at all in the books. <p> The original sequels have a 30 something Ender as a qusi religious figure trying to help a planet that contains human settlements and the indigenous aliens, who are the second intelligent alien species mankind has had contact with. <p> Tone wise, the first book is a lot like harry potter, just more violent and less happy. Think of the flashback childhood scenes from Soldier. The next couple of books use the first book as a back story for the main character. It's thousands or years in the future and it focuses on family and philosophy. There are little to no action scenes in it at all. <p> As for the author, none of the books display his personal prejudices. (except his hatred for specific philosophies) He is also one of the first successful authors to release his books for free online at the same time they were released in stores. So you can just take the good with the bad
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<p>OSC may be a right-wing fanatic--heck, I consider myself a moderate conservative, and some of the stuff makes me VERY uneasy--but be that as it may, he has written some damn amazing books in his time. Ender's Game/Ender's Shadow is some of the best sci-fi stuff I've had the pleasure of reading, and the Shadow series (with Bean) was pretty excellent as well.</p> <p>Oddly enough, I can't really see Ender's Game as an animated piece for some reason. I like animated stuff, but it just feels like the medium is less capable of carrying through much of the emotional depth and trauma. Which is silly, considering how potent The Lion King and the Incredibles are, emotionally speaking. But still, I've always imagined an Ender's Game movie as, well, you know. . .a live action movie.
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I read the medieval, psychotic and mormon-extremist opinions ol' Orson has for our gay and lesbian brethren. They guy is fucking nuts - to hell with him and his bullshit stories.
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Steven won't do it...it's just a shame because this movie is in his wheel house in every possible way...I am a huge Ender fan...and i'd want Spielberg or Ridley to do it...two different movies in two different styles but both would be amazing
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the book is already written...relax...leave your political shit at the door
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if it's not directed by M Night Shamalamadingdong. Fuck this movie.
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isn't he a homophobic mormon or something?
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Cool little book, but would never work as a film. On the other hand, it would make for an insanely creative and complex videogame.
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But it would demand really creative writing, à lá ROME or BATTLESTAR GALACTICA.
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of the content is internal to the characters to translate to a visual driven medium like film. Unfilmable. Ender's Game and Ender's Shadow are great true SF novels not the serialized dreck churned out now. I didn't read any of the other books in the series because I didn't want to be disappointed and pollute my vision of brilliant characters taking on true ethical problems.
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I was in a writers' workshop with OSC and he said the script he had penned compiled all the events into the course of one year so they could have ONE 8-12 year old actor play Ender for continuity reasons. I am really excited to see someone pull this off. (I loved Tsotsi, but haven't been interested in watching Wolverine after the poor reviews.) Let's hope they do the tone of the story justice.
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...I think people overreact to every story that has to do with OSC. I've actually read the articles that state his views in question, and I've found them very reasonable. Many of the haters on here exemplify the type of ignorant intolerance they claim HE'S displaying, when they label him without knowing what his actual views are.
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He loves kids.
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A direct quote from Card:<P>“Laws against homosexual behavior should remain on the books, not to be indiscriminately enforced against anyone who happens to be caught violating them, but to be used when necessary to send a clear message that those who flagrantly violate society's regulation of sexual behavior cannot be permitted to remain as acceptable, equal citizens within that society.”<P>The only good thing I have to say about this is that such a poisonous view of the world usually does not appear in his actual novels, just his loathsome personal essays. The Ender books are really good SF, esp. SPEAKER FOR THE DEAD.
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Rather than quoting in order to bias ones perspective toward your own, why don't you just provide the link and let people choose to read and decide for themselves: http://www.nauvoo.com/library/card-hypocrites.html You may fundamentally disagree with his perspective, but it should be clear that the man is intelligent and articulate and that he is not arguing from a place of fear and hate, but from a sociological position that is based on LDS ideas of appropriate community. I also recommend reading his novel Songbird, which was an excellent piece of sci-fi that had a very nuanced homosexual as the main character.
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Up-aging to 12-year-olds is probably a given. With the right kids and the right director you can get performances you care about, as in Stand By Me and most of the films Spielberg has done with children. They need to find kids who essentially ARE the characters, so they're not really acting. Another approach would be to use photo-realistic CG characters and do performance capture of 5-year-olds, 12-year-olds, adults, whatever, and fuse it all together to create the characters from the book. They'll call it five-dimensional editing or some shit.
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"Speaker for the Dead" is a terrific book, but it is VERY different from "Ender's Game." You kinda have to approach it as something disconnected from the first book, and embrace it on it's own terms. I almost didn't get through the first half because it was such a jolt coming right off "Ender's Game," but I'm glad I stuck it out.
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"Speaker for the Dead" is excellent, but it is very different. The history goes: "Ender's Game" was a short story; while writing "Speaker", Card though tit would be interesting if Ender took the role of the main character in this new book; Card then wrote the "Ender's Game" novel and expanded it so that it flowed into "Speaker".
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This film has been in development hell for at least 20 years; "Duran Duran" was huge back when they first started talking about filming this. Wake me when there's a greenlight; I'll be in my grave, decomposing.
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