In a recent interview with Asa Butterfield, IGN got the answer to a question that has been floating around for months: Will the movie combine the storylines of Ender’s Game and Ender’s Shadow?
No, there’s nothing from Ender’s Shadow. It’s all from Ender’s Game.
They also asked what he thought about Ender’s Game possibly becoming another Star Wars.
Well I hope so. I think it’s got a very good possibility to be. I think it’s unlike any other science fiction thing I’ve seen. It’s amazing. A lot of science fiction films today are just about sort of lasers and explosions, but the best are the ones that have a lot more about character and theme; and that’s one of the key parts of Ender’s Game – the story. There’s ideas behind it, about what makes human beings tick and that sort of thing.
It’s interesting that he talks about this because I was just having this conversation with my husband the other day. We had gone to see Oblivion and the week before that we were debating what makes good sci-fi and the hopes we had for the great lineup of sci-fi movies this year.
Oblivion, though gorgeous and grand, ultimately failed in the story. It tried very hard, but there were a lot of things about the plot that simply fell apart and the character of Jack Harper just wasn’t what it needed to be to really draw the audience in. That Asa understands this seems to be a great sign that they’ve taken steps to ensure this doesn’t happen with Ender’s Game.
Asa also showed a deep understanding for Ender’s character in relation to his siblings Peter and Valentine, “Ender’s character is very much based on his siblings, Peter and Valentine. Valentine is very kind and open, she’s like the nicest human being, whereas Peter is selfish, arrogant and horrible. Ender is stuck in the middle of them. So the story shows you that everyone has their darker and lighter side and that no matter how hard you try to be a good person you always have that dark place in you.”
Asa also confirms that the film is aiming for a PG-13 rating, something most of us assumed at this point, but it was good to hear it from Ender himself.
When asked to liken the visuals to another sci-fi film out there, Asa didn’t feel as though there was one.
I think the visuals of it are very, very original. Because the battle room is just a glass sphere, and because Battle School is in space, it allows you to see out. You can see stars, you can see Earth, you can see all of the colors from the sun and the sea and the green of the land. And it gives a very original and sort of beautiful look to the film that is unlike anything you’d see in a sci-fi film. And that’s contrasted by the metal and the orderedness of the station. So you have these two contrasting elements: the freedom of the battle room and the ordered look of the dorms and the corridors.
There’s more to the interview so be sure to check it out at IGN.com.
Authors Orson Scott Card and Aaron Johnston will be doing a book signing for ‘
