Last night, the Ender’s Game Exclusive Fan Experience opened, and a few people got to interview Asa Butterfield, Hailee Steinfeld, Gavin Hood and Bob Orci outside the Experience. Watch below what they had to say:
And just a couple of minutes ago, MoviesDotComOfficial released this brand new interview with Asa and Hailee!
Let us know what you think!
Source: Youtube (Beyond The Trailer, Perry Nemiroff, MoviesDotComOfficial)
Gettyimages has new photos of last night’s Ender’s Game Experience Press Preview! Apparently, the Thursday panelists (sans Abigail Breslin, who had to cancel) were in attendance and up to all kinds of mischief. Check out the following links for more pretty, interesting and hilarious photos of Asa Butterfield, Hailee Steinfeld, director Gavin Hood, producer Bob Orci, and bits and pieces of the exhibition.
Gettyimages: 87 photos of the event, watermarked
IMDB: 15 medium sized photos without watermarks; the pics in this post are screenshots from the IMDB site
Many thanks to Michael Arvallius on Facebook for pointing out the pics on IMDB.
Sources: Gettyimages, IMDB
Comic Con released their autograph signing schedule and there are two scheduled for cast and crew of Ender’s Game. The first will be held on Thursday morning.
Summit Entertainment is excited to announce a special autograph signing by Bob Orci, Gavin Hood, Asa Butterfield, Hailee Steinfeld, and Abigail Breslin for their upcoming release ENDER’S GAME. Please visit http://www.comic-con.org/cci/autograph-area or the Autograph Area Information Booth for details on how to participate in a Limited Signing Drawing.
Limited Signing – Drawing for Line Tickets to be held Thursday at 9:00 am in the Autograph Area
Thursday July 18, 2013 9:00am – 9:30am
Sails Pavilion – Autographs
Click here to add to your MySched.
The second signing will be on Saturday morning.
Talent from Enders Game
(Aramis Knight, Suraj Parthasarathy, Jimmy Pinchak, Conor Carrol, Cameron Gaskins)
Limited Signing – Drawing for Line Tickets to be held Saturday at 9:00 am in the Autograph AreaSaturday July 20, 2013 9:00am – 10:00am
Sails Pavilion – Autographs
Click here to add to your MySched.
Comic Con International has begun rolling out their schedule and today they released the schedule for Thursday. Ender’s Game is slotted for 3:50 PM in Hall H along with Summit’s YA title Divergent.
With the two films sharing a one hour slot, that doesn’t seem to leave a whole lot of time for Ender’s Game, a half an hour at most. Hopefully they pack in as much as they can!
Stars Harrison Ford, Asa Butterfield, Hailee Steinfeld, and Abigail Breslin will be there along with producer Bob Orci and director Gavin Hood.
Ender’s Game producers Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci spoke with Barbara Chai of the Wall Street Journal recently and mentioned their personal history with the popular sci fi novel.
What were some of the challenges you and director Gavin Hood faced in adapting Orson Scott Card’s “Ender’s Game” into a film?
Orci: “Ender’s Game” was a book that we both loved from teenagehood. It was published in 1985 and I think we read it in high school, maybe even earlier. The challenge with the book is it’s very internal in that a lot of the narrative that occurs is within the character’s head and the trick is, how do you dramatize that? The answer is both through having some of those internal struggles be dramatically shown as scenes, and second, we have an advantage that the book does not have, and that is actors. We have great actors who can not only say things, but play things and play reactions on their faces and actually convey a lot of the emotion of the book. Thankfully now we have the technology to make it the grand adventure that it deserves to be. We have the technology to render a Zero-G environment in a totally believable and incredible way.
Chai brought up the elephant in the room and asked them if they thought Card’s views would affect the film.
Orci: I was never aware of in the book – and we’ve read it three or four times during our lifetime before we got into this movie – I never saw any sign in “Ender’s Game” of anything that offended Alex or me. The book is beautiful. It’s about tolerance, it’s about responsibility, it’s about growing up. We just tend to judge a book on its own merits. Nothing that anyone could say is going to remove our original reaction of how we perceive this beautiful book. For us, it’s just about the book.
Kurtzman: Look, obviously it’s a First Amendment issue and Mr. Card is free to express whatever point-of-view he chooses to express, and we are free to disagree with him. At this point, that’s all I really want to say about it.
I have to admit, Orci’s answer touches on why I continue to do this site despite disagreeing with Card’s views. In all my readings of the book, I’d never picked up on his personal views either.
You can read the full interview at the WSJ.
Ho, launchies! If you weren’t able to make it to the live Hangout, here’s a replay of it below!
Don’t forget to join some of your Ender’s Game fansites as we do the Meet the Fleet Q&A with Ender’s Game director Gavin Hood, producer Roberto Orci, and star Asa Butterfield on the Ender’s Game YouTube channel:
http://www.youtube.com/user/EndersGameMovie
The hangout will begin at 1 PM PT! (in just about half an hour!)
Ever since we all heard that some press got to see the trailer at the GAMA Trade Show in Vegas last week, the question everyone seems to be asking is when do the rest of us get to see it?
Someone tweeted to producer Bob Orci asking when we’re getting a trailer, but doesn’t specify if he’s asking about Ender’s Game.
In any case, Orci responded with “Yup!” So was he actually talking Ender’s Game here?
Pretty likely. His previous tweet was a link to the Ender’s Game blog post on Tumblr. The only other movie that he’s producing (besides Star Trek) that will be out this year is Now You See Me, but the trailer for that movie has been out for quite a while already.
The unfortunate part about that is that Star Trek Into Darkness isn’t in theaters until May 17. That’s practically two months from now! Do we really have to wait that long for a trailer? I had really hoped to see a trailer attached to movies such as The Host, G.I. Joe: Retaliation (March 29), or Oblivion (April 19).
Or maybe they’ll debut it online and simply start showing it in theaters in Star Trek. What do you think about waiting until May for a trailer?
In an interview published online yesterday, The Hollywood Reporter spoke to Summit worldwide marketing president Nancy Kirkpatrick on her success in turning The Twilight Saga into a multi-billion dollar franchise across the globe. When talk turned to her next project, Ender’s Game, the words “franchise hopeful” were used.
Post-Twilight, Kirkpatrick is turning her attention to franchise hopeful Ender’s Game, also based on a young-adult novel. The first movie opens in theaters Nov. 1, 2013.
For anyone who might be worried about a woman who helped build the Twilight marketing success touching Ender’s Game, I’m sure she knows what she’s doing and therefore I’m not concerned. I don’t think we’ll be seeing Ender Wiggin pillow cases or Petra Arkanian Barbies.
As book fans know, there’s no shortage of existing books in the Enderverse for them to make into movies, but with no news about whether young actors Asa Butterfield, Abigail Breslin, and Jimmy Jax Pinchak (the three Wiggins) or any of the actors playing Ender’s jeesh are signed on for more than one film, it seems safe to assume that they’re either waiting to see how well Ender’s Game performs come next November or keeping a very tight lid on a multiple film deal.
As funny as it sounds since it’s taken nearly three decades to be adapted, of the original Ender Quartet, Ender’s Game strikes me as the most easily adaptable. Speaker for the Dead, Xenocide, and Children of the Mind are all much more involved and complicated than Ender’s Game and therefore don’t seem to have as much blockbuster potential. They are better books than they ever could be movies.
So where could a sequel take us? Allow me, for a moment, to take us into unthinkable land.
Look behind the scenes and you’ll find Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, the men who have successfully taken pre-existing characters and taken them where no man has go– sorry, Star Trek teaser sickness took over for a second, but it’ll become relevant in a bit.
Orci and Kurtzman have written and produced mega franchises such as Transformers, which took a line of beloved characters and put them in an entirely new storyline. The franchise to date has grossed billions of dollars.
They wrote and produced the rebooted Star Trek, which many Trekkies know took our beloved characters and turned their world upside down. What emerged was a completely fresh slate for a wealth of pre-existing characters, modernized for today’s pop culture and successful to the tune of $385 million dollars. As most of you probably know by now, the first teaser for Star Trek Into Darkness is filling up Twitter feeds and Facebook timelines across the globe. It’s primed to be another smashing success in their new Star Trek universe.
What I’m trying to say is, what if they took the characters they adapted into the Ender’s Game movie and simply took off into the sunset, leaving behind what is arguably a series too dull to be successful movies and another series (the Bean Quartet) that is completely separated from Ender. It may seem horrifying to die hard book fans, but for those fans who still pack theater seats eager to be entertained, the idea can be simply thrilling.
Imagine a completely new set of movies based on the adventures of Ender, Valentine, Bean, Petra, Dink, Alai, and more. Would this excite you as much as it excites me?
With a fresh cast and a fanbase that’s been building for 30 years, this could be the next franchise conquest for Kurtzman and Orci in their ever-growing line of science fiction blockbusters.
I’m sure Nancy Kirkpatrick would be right on board with that.
Source: Full article at THR.com
Keen observers on Twitter may have noticed a few new photos from the set of Ender’s Game, which is nearing completion in New Orleans, Louisiana. Actor Kyle Clements (@kyle_clements) tweeted that he wrapped his Ender’s Game scenes yesterday. He plays the young version of Mazer Rackham, who is played by Sir Ben Kingsley.
This is a photo of producer Bob Orci (left) talking to executive producer David Coatsworth (right) tweeted by @ManSafGo. You can see in the background that the entire area is painted green for filming!
The last of these photos shows above-mentioned David Coatsworth having lunch with his phone.
This week’s entry in the Ender’s Game Production blog has something especially exciting featured: the logo of the International Fleet!
A photo of what looks to be some kind of metal platform with the IF logo on it shows a hollow oval with a capital ‘I’ overlaid on it, with a starburst behind it. Anyone have any insight on the symbolism behind it? My first interpretation is that the oval represents the Earth and the ‘I’ obviously stands for International, but I’m curious to hear if anyone else has an opinion about it, since I pretty much suck at symbolism.
Update: One of our readers Cole pointed out that it’s a greek Phi.
In addition to the image, producer Bob Orci answered a few more fan questions.
Ccspatriot35 asks:
How militaristic will the environment be? Will we be seeing the children treated like the soldiers they are meant to portray? For all intents and purposes they are in boot camp for most of their adolescence. Will we see the characters being broken down?
Funny you should ask. We had a great visit with some online press who visited the set, and they got to talk to our actors. Without giving too much away, they told great stories of not only going to Space Camp, but also having to undergo a form of boot camp with a no nonsense instructor who taught them how to march properly in unison and much more. And when they screwed up they were ordered to do push ups! They got in shape trust me. It’s painful for my self image to see so many young kids with six pack abs. Maybe I should go to boot camp next.
This was from our set visit! Consider that this was a room of young boys and discussion over six packs gradually turned into a hilarious “who has more” six pack contest.
Addressing the ever-present age issue, Bob gave a great answer about the timeline of the movie.
Katrina asks:
How has the book been adapted to script to work with the ages of the actors?
Time has been compressed impressionistically. Though we don’t specify how much time has passed, leaving it somewhat up to your imagination, it is clear that the time span is not as long as the book’s.
A lot of people will read this and still find themselves upset over the change from the book, but you have to keep telling yourself that this is an adaptation that has to be smashed into two hours. Certain changes such as this one are to be expected and it’s tough to deal with some of them, but in the end all we can really do is hope that it works in the end.
From looking at the cast listing, it’s clear that they ended up scrapping quite a few named characters from the book, but one that most certainly couldn’t be cut was smart little cadet Bean. When asked about exactly how much Bean we’d see in the movie, Orci had good things to say. “Orson Scott Card advocated for as much Bean as we could muster, and really encouraged ways to make him pivotal. You’ll decide if we succeeded! I think we did. And we’re even more excited for you all to experience Aramis Knight’s fantastic portrayal of Bean.”
Fan DavidB voiced another huge concern about how the book, which is told primarily from Ender’s own point of view, would translate to screen since voiceovers are a bit tricky.
Praising the young actors of the cast, Orci sounds convinced that the performances will go a long way in conveying the emotion of the overall story. “Gavin elegantly translated some of the inner thought into action or character decisions in his script — drama — and that allowed him to find natural places for the characters to speak about what they are going through.”
The last question addressed the psychological aspect of Ender’s story:
Sarah Pezzat asks:
Is it still about using empathy as a weapon?
One of the great themes that is explored, in more ways than one, is how empathy can be seen as a weakness or a strength. How understanding an enemy makes you also understand their weaknesses. And even how withholding empathy can also be a weapon. The fact that the audience is going to want nothing more than for commanders to show these young people warmth and understanding, but that it has to be weighed against the fear of it being not in the young soldiers best interests in order for them to do what they have to do, makes for fascinating stuff.
To read the questions and answers in its entirety, visit the Ender’s Game Production Blog. You can also discuss the logo on the EnderWiggin.net forums (which definitely needs help getting off its feet!)
After receiving over 300 questions about the production of Ender’s Game, producer Roberto Orci chose five questions to answer that revealed things that may do more to ease fans minds about what this movie is ultimately about. We also get a look at Battle School name tags!
Starting off with a question (from me!) about his favorite scene from the book, Roberto reveals that he always loved when Ender played the Giant’s Drink game.
Valentine asks:
As fans of the book, what is your favorite scene from the book? Do you have a different favorite scene from the movie?
I always loved the scenes within the Mind Game that Ender believes he plays for recreation in the orbiting battle school. Part video game, part psychological test, and if you know the book, part something extraordinary that shouldn’t be given away for those who have not read the book. As for my favorite scene from the movie, we are still filming it so I haven’t seen it yet!
Another fan, Reuben, asked how this production has differed from his work in the past.
Reuben asks:
Question to Mr. Orci — How has this production differed from past (and other current) projects? I’m especially interested to know how you feel about the cast’s interactions and your feelings about the script, now that you see it ‘in action’.
Gavin’s script made me jealous, but it was also a relief that he had satisfied what I would want as a fan from a difficult adaptation. Also, I have never worked with so many talented young actors who became friends so fast under such amazing circumstances. Seeing Asa, who plays Ender, and Hailee, who plays Petra, floating high above the set and getting the giggles was amazing and frightening all at once. They laughed for like twenty minutes, which as a producer on a clock eager to finish your shooting day can give you a heart attack. But soon we all had the giggles, and the joy of it overcame the panic.
It’s definitely nice to hear that the cast is having a great time. Author Orson Scott Card made it sound almost too strenuous for the young actors in his recent account of his set visit!
Echoing a common fan question, Orci next tackled the subject of visuals.
Chris Neumann asks:
What are the visual influences for the movie? Syd Mead or Star Trek? 2001 or Armageddon? Jon Berkey or Michael Bay?
One thing I can tell you is that Gavin Hood is a gigantic Stanley Kubrick fan, and it shows. And yet, in some of the Zero G battles, things are going on that Kubrick never had a chance to tackle. The technology and advancements in film making available to us allowed us to realize a vision that is totally unique and modern while also being, as Harrison Ford calls it, one of the most emotional science fiction movies he has ever seen.
As a fan one of my many concerns is that Ender’s Game would turn out to be purely an action/adventure movie with young adults, but hopefully Harrison Ford’s assessment is proof that that’s not the case with this film.
William Harley asks:
How much time is going to be spent on developing Graff’s relationship with Ender? To me, those insights into the command level of the school really brought out the meaning of leadership and how to tackle the challenges that come up.
The relationship between Colonel Graff (Harrison Ford) and Ender (Asa Butterfield) is key to the movie’s success. Graff would love nothing more than to be Ender’s friend, yet Graff can’t always show it because he has to make it clear to Ender that in the event of another alien invasion, there will be no one available to help him. Their relationship is simultenously heartbreaking and fun.
Since Ender overhearing a conversation between Graff and Mazer has always been, to me, one of the most heartbreaking and emotional scenes of the book, it’s great to hear they understand the importance of this relationship.
Lastly, Orci answered what may be the most important question of it all: what type of movie they’re making.
Paul2012 asks:
Is it a movie for adults, about kids, or a kids movie? I hope for the former.
Like the book, the movie Ender’s Game is about young protagonists dealing with one of the most adult situations known to man: WAR. We don’t soft peddle it, yet we don’t shy away from the fun of being in space and learning amazing new skills that we would all want to learn at any age.
It seemed, overall, to be a good mixture of questions, though one that was asked but not addressed was whether Locke and Demosthenes were a part of the movie or ended up not making it into the adaptation. Hopefully this gets answered soon, as I know I’d need quite a bit of time to recover from the loss of that aspect of the movie.
Source: Ender’s Game Blog
This week’s image in the Ender’s Game Production blog features a photo of producer Roberto Orci holding papers and hovering over his chair with a set of headphones on.
What’s even more interesting, however, is what appears to be a piece of the set behind him. You can see what looks to be a curved doorway and the interface of a computer system behind him.
In addition to the usual photo and image, they’ve opened themselves up to questions from fans!
“I need you to be clever, Bean. I need you to think of solutions to
problems we haven’t seen yet.”In Dragon Army, Ender encourages input. So do we. That’s why we’re
opening this blog up to you, the readers.Ask us a question about ENDER’S GAME — something you’ve been dying to know. We’ll select our favorites (or as many as we can) from the comments section and start answering them.
To submit a question to the makers of Ender’s Game, head on over to the Ender’s Game Production blog.