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  • MTV’s Josh Horowitz Talks ‘Ender’s Game’ with Bobby Cohen

    MTV’s Josh Horowitz Talks ‘Ender’s Game’ with Bobby Cohen

     

    MTV’s Josh Horowitz recently caught up with film producer Bobby Cohen, who is working with Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Ortiz on Ender’s Game and got him to talk a bit about the set.

    “There is a NASA stage where they literally used to build the rockets for the space shuttle that is now actually a sound stage,” he said. “They will be spending 65 some odd days about 45 minutes from here on a big giant set. So that’s going well.”

    Source: MTV Movies Blog

  • Can Teenager Asa Butterfield Play a Young Ender?

    Can Teenager Asa Butterfield Play a Young Ender?

    It’s already been made clear by early casting calls for the film adaptation of Ender’s Game that Ender has been aged up from 5 to 10.

    Obviously, finding the right five year-old actor to portray the child genius Andrew could have kept the movie in limbo for yet another 20 years no matter how strong the script, so aging him up is an understandable change to a science fiction classic that has been a favorite of readers for decades.

    Asa ButterfieldStill, when it was announced that Asa Butterfield had been offered the key role, I have to admit I had reservations. Sure, he looked the part of an older Ender, but could he play the younger Ender as well?

    Pictured right, Butterfield looks like a teenager. It’s moderately difficult to see how this young man could pull off being so young. Past pivotal young male roles were cast pretty close to their character’s ages. Haley Joel Osment was 10 when he filmed The Sixth Sense and his character was 9 years old. Macaulay Culkin was 9 when he played 8 year-old Kevin McCallister. Butterfield looked very young in Hugo, but his character was twelve years old.

    Fourteen years old when he was cast and just recently turned fifteen this April, could Asa Butterfield be made to look like he is a young 10 year-old boy? Photos posted to Twitter today seem to support that the answer to that is a convincing yes.

    Asa Butterfield and Aramis Knight

    This photo was posted by Asa Butterfield (left) and Aramis Knight (Bean, right) today and Asa does look a lot younger with his military hairstyle, though it could be the angle and camera filter playing tricks on the eyes. It could just be the expression on his face.

    What do you think, folks? Does he look like he can pull off 10 years old? After seeing the photos posted today, my reservations have definitely begun to fade away.

    Hopefully we’ll get a real photo of Ender soon. Everyone cross your fingers for next week!

    View more photos below:

  • Happy Birthday to Moises Arias

    Happy Birthday to Moises Arias

    Sending out birthday wishes to young actor Moises Arias, who plays Bonzo Madrid in Ender’s Game. Hope you have a fun-filled day!

    Arias turns 18 today.

    Fans can follow Moises Arias on Twitter @ImNotMoises.

  • A Look at Ender’s Monitor

    A Look at Ender’s Monitor

    Ender's Monitor

    This week’s production entry over at Ender’s Game Blog gives us a better look at Ender himself… sort of. This photo is an image of Ender’s monitor, which we learn at the start of the book is how the military monitors the children they’re screening for Battle School. Both Peter and Valentine had their monitors removed and were allowed to remain on Earth to grow up with their parents, but then they were given permission to have a third child.

    The book begins as Ender has his monitor removed, which ends up being a painful ordeal, despite reassurances that he won’t feel a thing.

    The novel was amazingly prescient about a great many things: remote controlled drone wars, the internet, the influence of blogging, hand held computing tablets like the I-Pad, and of course, electronic surveillance implants.  Implanted tracking and monitoring chips are no longer a science fiction concept.  They exist now.  And one day, they may be as advanced as the monitor implanted into Ender, which allows Colonel Graff to “see through his eyes” and know:  HE’S THE ONE.

    It’s funny how they mention the iPad because that’s what came to mind when I re-read Ender’s Game last year. I marveled at how the desks seemed to be just like the tablets of today, with the students sending IMs to each other in creative ways. It would be an interesting marketing tactic if they were to develop a smartphone game mirroring Giant’s Drink. (hopefully without the suicidal tendencies feature)

    Source: Ender’s Game Blog

  • First Look at Ender Wiggin’s Bedroom

    First Look at Ender Wiggin’s Bedroom

    Ender's Room

    For this week’s production entry on Ender’s Game blog, we get a look at Ender’s bedroom, which is full of knickknacks, space decals, and model planes.

    The more futuristic the world, the more invisible its technology. So why shouldn’t Ender’s room look just like any normal kid’s room?  And not every future is a dark dystopia.  The world that Ender lives in is a world worth saving.  That’s why he is willing to leave his family to go into an orbiting Battle School and risk not seeing his sister, Valentine, again until they are both adults.

    I like that they gave him a modern room. I’ve never really imagined Ender’s home to be dystopian and run down.

    We will keep your room for you just as you left it, Ender…

    In other news, cast member Khy Rhambo tweeted that today they worked on Salamander Army scenes in the Battle Room.

    Amazing day of shooting with our flash suits @ImNotMoises @HaileeSteinfeld @asabfb @bsoohoo Salamander all day son !!!

  • ‘Ender’s Game’ Release Date Pushed to November 1, 2013

    ‘Ender’s Game’ Release Date Pushed to November 1, 2013

    Ender's ChairAlthough it’s been reported that Ender’s Game is nearing the halfway point of it’s production, currently happening in New Orleans, Louisiana, Summit Entertainment announced today that the release date for the movie has been pushed back nearly 8 months from March 15, 2013 to November 1, 2013.

    This slates the movie to open just three weeks before Lionsgate’s already highly anticipated The Hunger Games sequel, Catching Fire.

    Lionsgate and Summit hope to boost interest in Ender’s Game by opening it so closely to Catching Fire, since they can use the Hunger Games sequel to publicize Ender’s Game. Also, delaying the release will allow Summit and Lionsgate to market and publicize a fully finished film.

    This is rather disheartening news, since 8 months is quite a long time when we just recently passed through the one year mark until the movie’s release. However, with the additional time, perhaps it will give Lionsgate the time needed to build buzz for the film adaptation, which has been through numerous failed attempts to bring the movie to the big screen over the last 30 years.

    Source: THR

  • ‘Ender’s Game’ Production Nearing Halfpoint

    ‘Ender’s Game’ Production Nearing Halfpoint

    Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci

    In a recent interview with producer Alex Kurtzman, MTV’s Kara Warner took the opportunity to inquire about his work on Ender’s Game.

    “I’m really proud of the work everybody’s done on ‘Ender’s.’ Particularly because it’s a very complicated sprawling book that a lot of people have tried for a very long time to figure out how to make,” Kurtzman told MTV.

    We already know that big changes are in order for the film, which has cast now 15 year-old Asa Butterfield as the young Ender Wiggin, who is actually only six when he’s shipped off to Battle School in the books. However, Kurtzman says he’s pleased with what director Gavin Hood has done with the script, saying that Hood had “in a miraculous way […] managed to distill down the essence of the book and the big moves to a very understandable clear format.”

    Kurtzman also comment about where they are in the production schedule. “We’re about halfway through it, maybe close to halfway but it’s been a wonderful shoot so far.”

    With tweets from the young cast continuing to pour out about their bonding on and off set, it does sound like things are going smoothly!

    Ender’s Game is set to hit theaters in March 2013.

    Source: MTV

  • ‘Ender’s Game’ Production Blog Posts Space Camp Photo

    ‘Ender’s Game’ Production Blog Posts Space Camp Photo

    Space Camp

    The production blog for Ender’s Game, which seems to be operating on a weekly Wednesday posting, put up a new photo of the cast in a simulator while attending Space Camp in Huntsville, Alabama.

    “Houston, we have a problem.  We don’t know how to land the Shuttle.” Good thing it’s just a simulator safely on the ground at SPACE CAMP in Huntsville, Alabama.  Aramis, Moises, Asa & Suraj (pictured above from a monitor in the MISSION CONTROL ROOM ) and the rest of our cast agreed that to do Ender’s Game right, they had to train as though they were really headed into ZERO G.  And this wasn’t just an afternoon spent taking a vanity tour. From the Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU), which simulates extra-vehicular shuttle missions in Earth’s orbit, to the microgravity training chair that prepared astronauts for moonwalks during the Apollo program, the week at Space Camp was genuine prep for the feeling of reality that this movie deserves. And after all, the army that trains together stays together.

    From left to right seated in the photo: Aramis Knight (Bean), Moises Arias (Bonzo), Asa Butterfield (Ender), and Suraj Parthasurathy (Alai).

  • Happy Birthday Asa Butterfield!

    Happy Birthday Asa Butterfield!

    Asa Butterfield

    Happy Birthday to our Ender Wiggin, Asa Butterfield, who turned 15 today! We share a birthday, so happy birthday to us!

  • ‘Ender’s Game’ Production Blog Posts Utility Deck Photo

    ‘Ender’s Game’ Production Blog Posts Utility Deck Photo

    Utility Deck

    The Ender’s Game production blog posted a new image today of Utility Deck G in Hall Number 0058 with the following:

    If you think regular school is tough, try it in a rotating space station.  And by the way, do you have a hall pass for hall number 0058?  Because if you don’t, you could end up scrubbing the showers.  When you first arrive at Battle School, all you perceive is its utility, its functionality… that is until you enter the BATTLE ROOM, where there is no up, no down, and ZERO G’s.  Movie making can become overly reliant on digital worlds, and nothing can replace a well-built set that you can see and touch and stand in the middle of, fooling you into thinking you are really there. Enjoy this small taste of Ender’s big world. We’ll see a lot more in the weeks to come.

    The really strange part? The description on this image is “BEVERLY HILLS CHIHUAHUA 3”. I’ve been wracking my brain trying to come up with a connection, but so far I can’t make anything out of it.

  • Battle School Scenes in Production

    Battle School Scenes in Production

    From the sound of tweets from the actors currently on set of Ender’s Game, production is likely working on Battle School scenes.

    Star Asa Butterfield tweeted that he was on his second day on set with his toon leaders Bean (Aramis Knight), Petra (Hailee Steinfeld), Fly Molo (Brandon Soo Hoo), and Alai (Suraj Parthasurathy) along with his friend Dink (Khylin Rhambo) and stern commander Bonzo Madrid (Moises Arias).

    What do you think they’re working on? Battle Room? Mess hall? Can you picture them all watching him play Giant’s Drink?

    So far there’s been no further updates to the production blog that launched a week ago on Tumblr.

  • Abigail Breslin Attends Screening for ‘The Hunger Games’; Wraps Shooting?

    Abigail Breslin Attends Screening for ‘The Hunger Games’; Wraps Shooting?

    Abigail Breslin, who plays Valentine Wiggin in Ender’s Game, recently attended a secret screening for Lionsgate’s big blockbuster The Hunger Games in New York City. The young actress tweeted recently about having fun filming:

    “Had so much fun filming #endersgame with @asabfb @andipowell @jimmyjaxpinchak @ImNotMoises @AramisKnight88 @surajpartha @bsoohoo @Khy_Rhambo Connor, the director Gavin and the whole amazing crew! :)”

    Since Valentine has only minimal scenes, it sounds like she’s already wrapped her portion of filming, especially she’s been tweeting how much she’s missed them since departing on March 13.

  • Ender’s Game Production Tumblr Launches

    Ender’s Game Production Tumblr Launches

    Ender's Chair

    The production team behind the Ender’s Game movie, which is currently filming in New Orleans, Louisiana, has started an official production blog over on Tumblr.

    It took us all a second to realize Asa was right when he said Ender’s Gamewas an amazing book from “the late 1900s.”  We use that phrase all the time now, like, “Clinton was President in the late nineteen hundreds!”  Most of us read Ender’s Game when we were young and wondered when it would become a movie.

    It’s funny how they have the same reaction about the book when you think about how old it was. I’m about to turn 33 and Ender’s Game was my favorite book in the sixth grade. That means that the year I was fascinating about a movie, Asa Butterfield wouldn’t even be born for another SIX YEARS.

    It sure has been a long time coming and I can’t wait to see the first images!