Movies:: Ender's Game (2008)
Ender's Game seems to be navigating the fickle fancies of Hollywood hit meisters...
cinematical
Orson Scott Card Talks 'Ender's Game'
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.
by Christopher Campbell
LINK
http://endersgamemovie.blogspot.com/
The Latest News
It's October, and there was hope that Ender fans would have some news on the movie by now. Director Wolfgang Petersen had said back in May that he had hoped to start work on his next project by September. Petersen hasn't announced that he's starting work on his next project yet, so at least there's hope that it will be the EG movie.
On Philotic there's word that Orson Scott Card is working on a second draft to his latest script. At least the Ender's Game movie is still a high priority at Warner Bros. But if WB doesn't like this draft of the script, they'll call in more scriptdoctors.
Hopefully there will be more substancial news soon.
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OSC comments on some changes from the novel (Potential Spoilers)
On Hatrack, OSC briefly mentioned that he's considering writing a new version of EG, and a change he's had to make for the sake of it being a movie:
Ender's Game, while at the moment it is still my most popular, is not my best novel. I've learned a few things since writing it . Indeed, after working on the screenplay, I'm soooooo tempted to create a completely new version of Ender's Game that includes some of the really cool stuff that I've come up with for the film script. (While still not be a movie novelization - for instance, I still like having Ender meet the hive queen on another planet, not on the asteroid Eros, but for the film there's just no way.)
OSC: Script is being "Tweaked"
OSC gave a minor update about his work on the Ender's Game movie on Hatrack today:
I finished a draft. Tweaking continues. I haven't been fired yet so I'm still part of the process ... we'll see.
What I REALLY just finished was Empire, to be released Nov. 1. My publisher - the editors, the production staff, everybody - are absolutely wonderful to put up with my late delivery on this book.
I'm never late on purpose. In this case, the Ender screenplay kept me from really starting till late
Wolfgang Petersen has said he plans to start pre-production on his next film in September, and he would be spending the summer deciding what would be his next project. So, it starting to get down to crunch time for Ender's Game...
(FYI, Empire is a non-Enderverse sci-fi novel about a not-so-distant second American Civil War that will be published in November.)
MARVEL COMICS, DABEL BROTHERS RELEASE DETAILS ON ORIGINAL ENDERVERSE STORY
Published: March 9, 2007
By popular demand, Marvel, Dabel Brothers and Orson Scott Card elaborate on what may become the sci-fi event of the year.
Following on the heels of their announcement about the planned publication of an original comic book story written by Orson Scott Card that takes place in the universe popularized by his Hugo and Nebula winning novels Ender’s Game and Speaker for the Dead, Marvel Comics and the Dabel Brothers have released additional details about the story due to the overwhelming response they’ve received from readers and media.
The story, entitled Gold Bug, begins just after the Formic Wars (also known as the “Bugger Wars”), when Andrew “Ender” Wiggin arrives in a colony ship on one of the former formic worlds as the new governor.
The story follows a former pilot named Sel Menach, a xenobiologist who has spent the bulk of his life after the war in the fledgling colony working with the terrestrial plants the colonists brought along, learning to protect them from parasites and helping them to adapt to the climate patterns of the new world. Eventually, he is elected governor, until a replacement arrives – Ender Wiggin.
Due to the technical aspects of relativistic space travel, fourteen-year-old Ender finds himself in charge of a colony that has existed for decades without him, and many of the younger colonists resent the fact that the Fleet has sent a “mere child” to be their governor. But the older generation, comprised of former pilots and ships’ officers who fought under Ender’s command during the war, ensures that the younger colonists know that this is the mind who made everything possible.
Upon Ender’s arrival, Sel realizes that there is still much to learn about the rest of the planet, and obtains permission from Ender to explore past the reaches of the colony and see what lies beyond in the cold reaches of the south. But what Sel finds in his journey is something that may change the way the formics are understood by human scientists… and something that may give him a lifetime of new frontiers to explore.
“Part of the reason the Enderverse stories are so beloved is because they offer more than just great science fiction,” said Ernst Dabel, President of Dabel Brothers Productions. “Orson Scott Card has used books like Ender’s Game and Speaker for the Dead as a platform to explore some fascinating concepts, and ‘Gold Bug’ is very much in the spirit of offering a fresh new perspective on the evolution of an unnatural sort of creature that is quite useful as a tool, but unable to survive on its own when it’s abandoned by its masters.”
"I thought I was just writing a good adventure story with an interesting character," said Mr. Card, "but it got away from me a little."
Gold Bug will be produced by Dabel Brothers Productions and published by Marvel Comics as a bonus story in the back of the hardcover edition of the comic book adaptation of Orson Scott Card’s The Tales of Alvin Maker: Red Prophet, available at bookstores and comic book retailers in North America in the summer of 2007. The story will be written by Orson Scott Card, scripted by Jake Black (Wyrms, TMNT, Smallville) and drawn by Jin Han, a conceptual artist personally hand-picked by Mr. Card. Currently, the Dabel Brothers are also planning to adapt additional short stories that will take place in the Enderverse; details will be released as they become available.
“I’m a huge fan of Mr. Card’s novels, and Ender’s Game in particular,” said Jin Han while hard at work laying out the pages. “The story of The Gold Bug offers an intriguing look into the ongoing saga of Ender Wiggin, and Mr. Card continues to build upon an already legendary framework. He’s found an exciting and innovative way of telling this new story from the Enderverse, and it’s been an absolute thrill to be a part of it all! I’m very pleased to be working alongside Mr. Card in bringing the world of Ender Wiggin to life in an illustrated format, and I’m sure the fans will enjoy what we have in store for them!"
“I’m excited to be working on the Enderverse with Mr. Card and the Dabel Brothers after all the fun we’ve had with Wyrms,” added adapter Jake Black, “and I hope that readers will enjoy reading the story as much as I’ve enjoyed scripting it!”
The Dabel Brothers also produce two other comic books adapted from the writing of New York Times bestselling author Orson Scott Card: the aforementioned The Tales of Alvin Maker: Red Prophet, which is a fantasy story set in an alternate history of the American frontier where folk magic actually works, and Wyrms, an epic story about a girl named Patience on a world where survivors from a spaceship crash have long since formed their own unique society. Patience is a child of prophecy, with a unique tie to a creature called Unwyrm, and she embarks on a quest that will result in her either becoming Unwyrm’s mate or destroying him entirely.
LINK
From Orson Scott Card's website - hatrack
XM radio broadcasts the audio performance of Ender's Game!
The audiobook is being serialized on XM's literary channel. The episodes will air on XM Channel 163, and will air during the week at 4:30 a.m., 12:30 p.m., and 8:30 p.m. (EST) and on Saturday nights from 12:00 a.m. - 2:00 a.m. EST, which is primetime for the PST listeners (9:00 p.m. - 12:00 a.m.).
