Ben Kingsley to join ENDER'S GAME

Summit Entertainments highly anticipated adaptation of Ender’s Game has added a new member to it’s cast. THR is reporting that Sir Ben Kingsley is in negotiations to play the role of a war hero, most likely Mazer Rackham. The film is being directed by Gavin Hood (Tsotsi, X-Men Origins: Wolverine) and is based on the science fiction novel series by Orson Scott Card.

Here's a detailed analysis of the character Mazer. Before you read just know there are SPOILERS for those that have not read the book...

Mazer’s a senior citizen, but he’s basically a kid at heart – by which we mean that he enjoys beating up Ender.

Actually, maybe we could say that Mazer shows a possible end for Ender. Throughout the novel, until he shows up in Chapter 14, Mazer isn’t so much a man – he’s a legend. Yeah, he’s the guy who beat back the buggers’Second Invasion. And that’s pretty much the end that Ender moves towards, becoming a legend for beating back the buggers during a third invasion. (Check out in Chapter 15 when the colonists are practically worshipping Ender.)

Mazer’s also the guy who didn’t act according to the rules: he was court-martialed twice. (Being court-martialed once may be unfortunate, but being court-martialed twice looks like carelessness.) Which kind of sounds like Ender, who also doesn’t totally listen to the rules. (Although let’s be honest, they both follow a lot of rules. They’re pretty good at a lot of things, but they’re not the best at being rebels.)

What else is interesting about Mazer? Well, like Ender, he gets to know the buggers really well from fighting them. Also like Ender, he lives longer than he normally would, thanks to relativistic travel (should be said with an echo, so it sounds big and important). That is, because he travels near the speed of light, Mazer lives only eight years when the rest of the world lives fifty…so, basically, he traveled into the future and left behind all the people he knew. (The comparison to Ender would be Ender and his brother Peter. At the end, Peter is an old man while Ender is barely beyond his teen years.)

So Mazer is a pretty good model for Ender in some ways. But there are at least two things that seem to set him apart. First, he manipulates Ender into fighting a real war by telling him that he’s actually practicing on computer programs. Ender, in comparison, simply isn't that manipulative. (Or is he? Maybe Mazer treats Ender the same way Ender treats Bean and his other soldiers?)

Second, just like Graff, Mazer expresses some real affection for Ender and a belief in Ender’s goodness (14.308, 14.399). Whereas Ender – well, do you think Ender kind of hates himself? Mazer is sure of Ender’s innocence (just like Graff), but Ender’s not so sure.

Here is an official description of the story:

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.

If the deal goes through, Kingsley would star opposite Hugo's Asa Buttefield, who is set to play Ender. It was also announced that Hailee Steinfeld is liikely to star in the role of Petra Arkanian and Harrison Ford is said to be sought for the role of Colonel Hyrum Graff.

This movie is linight up to be an epic adaptation. Based on this cast I am fully on board. Kingsley has a great screen presence as can be seen as the villain in Sneakers. What are your thoughts on this casting news? Are you looking forward to seeing this movie?