Another ENDER'S GAME Movie Attempt from Director Gavin Hood
There's a hell of a long story behind the film adaptation of Orsen Scott Card's classic sci-fi novel Ender's Game. It seems like Ender's Game has been trying to get to the big screen forever, and it's at the point where I don't think it will ever happen. The last person that attempted to direct it was Wolfgang Petersen. I've heard from insiders that Card is the main hold up on the film project, that he's incredibly picky about how he wants the film done. The last we heard from Card on this film he had this to say:
I have finished the latest (and best) revision of my Ender's Game screenplay, which I have turned in to Odd Lot Entertainment as the first step in their option of the film. We have assembled a team of producers who understand the story and I believe we have our best chance yet of getting a good movie made.
Their hasn't been any movement on the film project for a long time, but today The LA Times ran an article that reveals X-Men Origins: Wolverine director Gavin Hood is currently working on trying to bring the incredible sci-fi novel to the big screen. Apparently he's already done a rewrite of the most recent script that was written by Card. There's no word on if Hood is going to direct it or not, but I imagine that's why he's trying to make it happen.
I'm a huge fan of this book series and I think it would make for an incredible film if done right. Card isn't interested in an effects heavy film, he wants the story to be more about the human relationships that he described as a "honest representation of the story." Now I think that's great and all, I love that he wants the story to be solid, but this story begs for incredible special effects! The story card wrote is special effects heavy, so I think he's just going to have to deal with that if he wants to see this turned into a film. You can still have a great story with great special effects, look at Lord of the Rings.
As for Hood possibly directing the film... I'm not a big fan. I hated X-Men Origins: Wolverine, it was a pretty poorly made film and I don't think he's got what it takes to bring Enders Game to the big screen.
What do you all think about Gavin Hood trying to develop the film?
Here's a description of the story for those of you that have never read the books:
In order to develop a secure defense against a hostile alien race's next attack, government agencies breed child geniuses and train them as soldiers. A brilliant young boy, Andrew "Ender" Wiggin lives with his kind but distant parents, his sadistic brother Peter, and the person he loves more than anyone else, his sister Valentine. Peter and Valentine were candidates for the soldier-training program but didn't make the cut—young Ender is the Wiggin drafted to the orbiting Battle School for rigorous military training.
Ender's skills make him a leader in school and respected in the Battle Room, where children play at mock battles in zero gravity. Yet growing up in an artificial community of young soldiers Ender suffers greatly from isolation, rivalry from his peers, pressure from the adult teachers, and an unsettling fear of the alien invaders. His psychological battles include loneliness, fear that he is becoming like the cruel brother he remembers, and fanning the flames of devotion to his beloved sister.
Is Ender the general Earth needs? But Ender is not the only result of the genetic experiments. The war with the Buggers has been raging for a hundred years, and the quest for the perfect general has been underway for almost as long. Ender's two older siblings are every bit as unusual as he is, but in very different ways. Between the three of them lie the abilities to remake a world. If, that is, the world survives.