Producer Bob Orci sat down with What’s Trending at Nerd HQ during Comic Con to talk about the process of making Ender’s Game. He speaks about getting the movie produced, casting Harrison Ford (or rather being cast by him), aging up the kids, and shooting the movie in sequence so that Ender’s physical growth would match Asa’s. I also think he and the interviewer are having a speed talking contest.
Source: Youtube
Asa Butterfield and Hailee Steinfeld sat down with Moviefone (as did Harrison Ford) to chat a bit about what it was like to film Ender’s Game. They talk about funny moments, the professional atmosphere on set, and the pranks they all (including, it seems, the adults) played on each other while filming. And guess what: the Ender’s Game slang from the books made it into the movie!
My favorite part of the interview is Hailee’s recollection of a prank Gavin Hood played on her:
At the end of the film, one of the cast members, Moises Arias, who plays Bonzo Madrid, had to shave his hair for the ending scene. You know, it’s one of those things where you’re OK with it because you have to do it, but it’s also like, you know… it’s a big thing, right? So Moises handled it very well, but you could see he was a little, you know, taken aback by looking at himself in the mirror and this drastic change. And Asa and I walked on set and Gavin turns around and has a black eye. My heart dropped. I was like, “What just happened?” And he goes, “I told him. I told him that he could take it out on me because I made him shave his head. And I was literally, like, crying. I was like, “Moises would never do that. What’s happening?” And then they were like, “Just kidding! It’s makeup!”
Read the entire interview HERE!
Source: Moviefone
In a recent interview with Moviefone (Asa and Hailee did one, too), Harrison Ford talks about Colonel Graff, how he compares to other character’s he’s played over the years, and the Hollywood studio system. The interview is pretty standard fare, but Harrison Ford is HILARIOUS!
My favorite part has to be this:
I wanted to switch gears a bit …
[Smiles] I thought you might.[Laughs] It’s not exactly what you expect — at least I am hoping it’s not. It may start out like that but …
[Laughs] It won’t end up like that!OK, but give me a chance!
Take your best shot.Your earlier movies still make news today — “Star Wars,” “Indiana Jones,” etc. My question to you is…
[Harrison begins drumming on the coffee table in front of him][Laughs]… is there one movie of yours that you wish got more attention than those movies?
That I wish got more attention? No. Well, there were movies that I think were good movies that did not receive as much attention at the time. I don’t think I remember any… oh, the one that comes to mind is “Mosquito Coast,” which I think was a really good movie and perhaps didn’t receive as much attention as it might have.
Read the rest of the interview HERE!
Source: Moviefone
In this brief interview with Clevver TV, Hailee is talking about the training the young actors did prior to filming as well as the costumes and sets of Ender’s Game, while Asa comments on Ender being aged up and the scene he is most excited about fans seeing.
Also, check out Clevver TV’s Comic Con red carpet gallery featuring stars from Ender’s Game (and Divergent) HERE!
Source: Clevver TV
Entertainment site The Verge just uploaded their coverage of Ender’s Game at San Diego Comic Con. They spoke briefly with Asa and Hailee outside the Ender’s Game Experience before they sat down with director Gavin Hood and producer Bob Orci to discuss the making of the movie. Watch them talk about getting involved in the project, financing the movie, their devotion to stay true to both the “cool stuff” and the “cerebral” side of the book, and why the teaser trailer is so heavy on CGI.
Source: The Verge’s Youtube Channel
More videos from Comic-Con are being uploaded every day on youtube and various entertainment sites. Among them are a bunch of flash interviews with Asa Butterfield and Hailee Steinfeld, which apparently were all held in the same room in the same time slot. Watch interviews by Hitflix and MoviesDotComOfficial HERE and HERE!
Personaly, I love this one with CraveOnline because it asks some nerdy questions about the coolest sets and moments during the filming of Ender’s Game and how hard it was not to geek out around SciFi movie icon Harrison Ford. Watch Asa and Hailee having loads of fun answering those questions below.
Source: Youtube
Back in December, Crystal posted an editorial about whether or not the upcoming Ender’s Game movie needed to go as far as the book in terms of violence. In Pondering the Fate of Stilson, she argued that having Ender kill Stilson before he even gets to Battle School may not only be not necessary and severely stretch credibility (look a the size difference between Caleb Thaggard and Asa Butterfield), it may also be harmful in that it may lead audiences to despise Ender or even encourage people to commit violence themselves.
Now, Ender’s Game director Gavin Hood has finally addressed the matter in an interview with Cinemablend’s Kelly West. Here is what he had to say:
I think that all those elements of bullying, which is a great theme in the world right now, and how kids deal with being bullied, which we know is so powerful in the book, thatʼs in the movie. But what I try to do as a filmmaker in terms of handling questions of violence, is I donʼt believe in showing violence for violenceʼs sake and repetitive violence. For me, what I have found is an act of violence can be so sudden, whatʼs more interesting is the aftermath. And so, our movie is not, I hope, in any way, really violent. I donʼt want it to be a violent film, but the effect of the moment of violence on the psyche of the protagonist and the people around him is profound as it is in the book. It has to be, and so those key scenes in the book –Bonzo in the shower– are absolutely in the movie, and they shock in their suddenness, but they are not in any way indulgent. Iʼm not interested in showing blood flying around the room or any of, none of that. Whatʼs more important is to see how these young character handle it and thatʼs why I think itʼs an important film. As a parent, I want my kids to go to a movie and not be spoken down to, deal with difficult themes, but be able to talk about it, not celebrate that, just talk about it.
Looks like Gavin Hood has put a lot of thought into the question of how much violence is really necessary in the movie to have the desired effect on the characters and the audience, and how much would really just be violence for violence’s sake. He seems to have a pretty decent grasp on where the thin line runs between dramaturgy and pornography. Sounds like we are going to be sufficiently shocked, without being traumatised by watching graphic displays of kids dying in puddles of their own blood. (my emphasis)
Source: Cinemablend
Blogger Mike Pierce (from iwatchmike.com), a.k.a. mikethemovieguy on Twitter, has made it his job to hang around the Summit booth and the Ender’s Game Interactive Experience to provide us all with footage on how everything is coming together.
Watch Mike’s socialcam video below for your very first look at the battle room stars! Look how huge they are!
Mike also talks about some interesting rumors concerning “some interactive people there who are playing the characters.” We have wondered why some of the cast members were rumored to be going to Comic Con, but weren’t listed in the official autograph signing line-ups. Could this be where they’ll be hanging out?
Follow Mike on Twitter (@mikethemovieguy)!
Source: Mike’s Twitter
As we’ve discovered earlier today (see photo above), Summit has teamed up with Home and Garden TV for its Ender’s Game Experience. According to several news outlets, Summit and HGTV have issued a press release concerning HGTV’s involvement in the Experience as well as the home makeover visitors can hope to win.
Inside the “Ender’s Game” activation, located outside the Hilton Gaslamp district, HGTV showcases its “Journey Begins at Home” space—an interpretation of the Wiggins home living room—among eight elaborate, specially constructed, unique rooms that represent the most iconic environments of Ender’s world, complete with original film props and set pieces used in the movie.
Visitors will be able to “enter the sweepstakes for the chance to win $10,000 courtesy of HGTV for their own “out of this world” home makeover.”
Sources: CNBC, The Slanted
Yesterday, The Digital Universe (Brigham Young University’s online news outlet) published a new interview with Orson Scott Card. None of the things he says about the book and the movie are entirely new, but the interview may clear up a few matters that people have been confused about. Here are a some excerpts:
About morality in Ender’s Game:
The novel doesn’t answer those questions, anyway — rather it raises them, and if anything it shows that the best you can do is muddle through, trying to do what’s right, as far as you can figure out what that is. That’s all that human beings can ever do. Even the great ones like Lincoln and Churchill are right only some of the time. Ender Wiggin, though fictional, is no better.
About his involvement in the movie:
My work as co-producer was all done in the early stages. Once Gavin Hood took over, my help was no longer required. […] The screenplay you see on the screen was 100 percent Gavin Hood. None of my writing was used. That was the decision that Odd Lot and Summit made; it was their money at risk, and they invested in the writer they believed in. I have no complaints.
Read the entire interview HERE.
Source: The Digital Universe
Skyboat Media, the production company that has exclusively produced the unabridged audio versions of Orson Scott Card’s Enderverse novels and stories, has just announced that they will be producing ENDER’S GAME ALIVE, a full cast audioplay written by Orson Scott Card himself based on Ender’s Game, the novel that started it all. According to the producers,
Production begins mid-July here at Skyboat, and we will be updating [our] page with features from the production. The audioplay will be released in late October 2013, will have a cast of over 40 actors playing over 100 roles. The production will be originally scored with full sound effects. It will be directed by Gabrielle de Cuir and produced here at Skyboat by Stefan Rudnicki. All this brought to you by publisher Audible.com
Watch the author himself talk about this new project:
Check back here and watch the Skyboat site for updates!
Macmillan is hosting a giveaway sponsored by TOR Books to give fans a chance at a really cool Ender’s Game prize pack including:
The poster looks like it’s a full size one like we’ve been seeing in theaters! To enter, you just have to sign up for the Tor/Forge newsletter. The giveaway is open only to residents of the US and the winner will be drawn on August 1, 2013.
via Ender News
Episode 19 of EnderCast is now available! This week we talked with author Alethea Kontis, who wrote the essay Mirror Mirror in Smart Pop Books’ anthology Ender’s World. Topics included:
We also had a Pop Quiz, Fart Eater guest on, so let us know how you did! Listen to the episode here.