Orson Scott Card Talks 'Ender's Game'
Filed under: Independent, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Warner Brothers, Fandom, Scripts, Comic/Superhero/Geek
I'm sure I'm in the minority in thinking that Ender's Game would make a horrible film. Maybe I don't remember the book well enough, but I see it being awfully repetitive. Many devoted readers, though, are eagerly awaiting the arrival of little Bean to the big screen, so I hope for them that it isn't another disappointing adaptation. On the plus side, the book's author, Orson Scott Card, has written the script. On the minus side, Card thinks Serenity is the "best science fiction movie, ever" and in the past wrote that he wants Ender's Game to be the kind of movie that Serenity is or else never be made.The author talked with IGN this week and had some more good and bad news for the fans. First the bad: the movie has stalled again, as Warner Bros. has put the project in turnaround. It isn't known why the studio changed its mind -- it seemed all set to go at the end of last year with Wolfgang Petersen directing -- but Card actually is happy they did. That is apparently the good news: the producers are now looking to bring the project to another studio or even finance it independently. I guess the benefit seems to be that the filmmakers will not begin the thing until they know they can make it right.
Card also dished out some other bits about the film, which are neither good nor bad. He says his script, which includes nothing of the past draft written by David Benioff and Dan Weiss, is an adaptation of both Ender's Game and its follow-up, Ender's Shadow -- though seemingly only includes parts of each. He also said that the film's producers aren't intending on making this into a franchise (I bet that is what turned off WB) and squashed rumors that Ridley Scott would be taking over from Petersen. Maybe Joss Whedon is a fan and could make Card's dreams come true.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
4-19-2007 @ 9:38PM
Marcus Sullivan said...
"On the minus side, Card thinks Serenity is the "best science fiction movie, ever" and in the past wrote that he wants Ender's Game to be the kind of movie that Serenity is or else never be made."
Minus side? More like awesome side. Serenity owned, and any movie that aspires to be like it is OK in my books. Why you would be cussing that shit, I don't EVEN know.
Reply
4-19-2007 @ 10:02PM
tozmervo said...
The notion of Joss directing Ender's Game... wow, I need to change pants.
Reply
4-19-2007 @ 10:09PM
dmerc said...
"I'm sure I'm in the minority in thinking that Ender's Game would make a horrible film."
Read it again. You're wrong. It would make for an awesome movie.
Reply
4-19-2007 @ 10:40PM
Rich said...
I LOVE Ender's Game, one of the best books (and series ever) but I really don't want to see it ruined by having it made into a movie. Even though OSC wrote the screenplay, I don't have high hopes for it.
Reply
4-20-2007 @ 12:46AM
tozmervo said...
It won't be ruined by a bad movie. Just look at Harry Potters 1 and 2. The books are still great even though the movies were miserable.
Reply
4-20-2007 @ 12:51AM
Kyle Beabo said...
Ender's Game is one of my fave books and Serenity is a great movie. Seriously good stuff.
http://kylebeabo.blogspot.com/
Reply
4-20-2007 @ 9:36AM
Jim Kosmicki said...
what you've listed here makes the movie more likely to work as a movie. Adding in the Ender's Shadow story gives Ender someone to talk to -- the original book is way too internal to work as a film. All of the important stuff happens in Ender's head. there are some cool battle scenes in training and against the Buggers, but the whole point of Ender's Game is about what happens in Ender's HEAD, not on the battlefield.
Them not wanting to make it a series tells me that they aren't going to worry about the ethical quandaries at the end of the book that set up the far superior sequels. The original sequels were written as good SF. the new sequence of sequels, focusing on Ender's brother Peter and Bean are more Star Trek/Star Wars style SF -- clearly written with the desire to be turned into other media. They are still good books, but they are far more visual and surface oriented, not nearly as internal as the original series of books.
So, adding in the Ender's Shadow material should make it work more as a film, as that material seems to have been created more for that type of interpretation. (and there can be sequels using the Shadow books that technically aren't Ender's Game sequels).
Reply
4-20-2007 @ 9:26AM
Michael said...
FYI, there are lots of follow-ups to Ender's Game, but Ender's Shadow really isn't one of them. Ender's Shadow is actually more of a retelling of Game from the perspective of Bean (rather than Ender). Both are good; I'm just guessing Card wants the movie to follow both Ender and Bean, which is why he said it would focus on elements from both books.
Reply
4-20-2007 @ 11:42AM
Eklen said...
I've been waiting for this movie since I read the book, and even though i have very high doubts for it, there is still a small chance it could not...suck. I do think they could make a movie of Speaker of the Dead. For the actual movie of Ender's Game, for one they would hopefully give it an R rating or at least a pg-13. This coulD be made into a good movie (great even), although i still do have my doubts. I do find it smart that theyre mixing Enders game with Enders shadow, I just hope they still focus on Ender more...I suppose we'll just have to wait for a trailer or some actors
Reply
10-17-2007 @ 11:53PM
matthew Teets said...
I agree, just the game in the book would be amazing with today's CG. That and get the script right and the right kids to act it out and you have a great movie from two great novels from one great author. I only wish I could be involved with the movie in some way. Although I do have my picks for kids to play the child characters in the movie. If OSC gets the script completed quick enough he could have Dakota fanning as Petra-I think she is right for it. The lauren wallace kid from the geico comms as either bean or maybe Ender.
Reply