New Image of Graff and Ender at Battle Room Gate

Along with a Q&A session with Asa Butterfield, Empire Online posted this great photo today of Colonel Graff and Ender Wiggin together at the Battle Room gate. Ender is in Launchie yellow, grasping one of the gate's handle bars, and it looks as if perhaps some sort of training session is going on.

Interestingly enough, there is also what appears to be a small viewing window over to the right of the photo. Is this the room in which Anderson and Graff watch the Battles as they are taking place?

Asa answered a couple new questions in the Q&A, describing a Battle Room scene we hadn't yet heard of and the rather uncomfortable flash suits:

During their training, Ender and his unit take on a lot of other teams in the Battle Room. Any stunts you’re particularly proud of pulling off?

There's a really cool sequence where I’m sort of spinning over backwards and I let go of my guns. They’re floating by my side just going along. As I push myself through these two stars, I spin back over and grab the guns, then shoot the people around me. I loved doing that.

We had originally thought this was Petra in the trailer, but is this perhaps the scene Asa is speaking of?

Interesting!

What did your Battle Room costume involve?

It's called a flash suit. It looks incredible, but wearing it was pretty uncomfortable, because they were tight and thick and didn’t give you all that much movement. It’s like wearing three wetsuits and then putting on body armour over that. We had a few versions: a normal one, and then a slightly bigger one which let you wear a harness underneath. You wouldn’t want to wear one for more than an hour.

You can check out the rest of the interview with Asa over at Empire Online.

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Big Expectations for Lionsgate Ahead of "Ender's Game"

Lionsgate has had an extremely successful year, yet it looks like Wall Street expects even more from the company in 2013/14. Ever since the studio bought Summit Entertainment back in 2012, its market value has more than tripled due to fan-heavy blockbusters such as Twilight and The Hunger Games. It's therefore not surprising that, ahead of their quarterly report this week, several financial analysts raised their price targets for the stock based on a very promising 2013 schedule.

Variety reported today that Lionsgate shares are at an all-time high due to the confidence that "Lionsgate can replicate the success of the first The Hunger Games movie and the Twilight franchise" with next year's Divergent and, of course, November-released Ender's Game.

A cult favorite among teen boys and young men since its publication in 1985, it's been described as "Star Wars meets Harry Potter."

You're welcome.

Of course, none of this means box office success for Ender's Game is a safe bet! At least one analyst notes that "the film remains a bit of a longshot to achieve breakout success" based on his views that the film will lose audience due to "some potentially challenging subject matter." While specific scenes were not mentioned, Variety went on the speculate that it was the book's ending (which they revealed) that might be the most disturbing for viewers.

Lionsgate, however, has a long and enormously successful history with young adult franchises and we would be extremely surprised if Ender's Game does not at least double the production cost of about $100 million at the box office.

And Lionsgate is definitely looking ahead:

[...] Ender's Game has "distinct fanboy and likely general audience appeal" with Lionsgate possibly responsible for 10% to 15% of the production cost. [Analyst Doug Creutz] also noted Lionsgate has rights to all 12 of Card's Ender's Game series, adding that not all of them are readily adaptable for film.

After Orson Scott Card's insistence that Speaker for the Dead is completely unfilmable and Asa Butterfield mentioning that nothing from Ender's Shadow was used in Ender's Game, one does wonder in which direction Summit and possibly Gavin Hood intend to take any possible Ender sequels. However, the Ender's Game "franchise," as in one or more sequels based on any of the 12 books for which Lionsgate has the rights, certainly remains a long shot at this point with no public commitment for more films from the studio.

We know one thing for sure: in whichever direction the studio chooses to go, Ender News will be here to keep you informed!

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Producer Bob Orci on Making Tough Choices

Click recently caught up with Ender's Game producer Bob Orci and his producing partner-in-crime Alex Kurtzman to talk about -- you guessed it -- Star Trek Into Darkness.

A duo that's been collaborating for over 20 years, most recently under the film production company K/O Paper Products, they also chatted a bit about their unique relationship and the difficulties and perks that come along with such a long-term partnership.

Bob Orci also addressed the challenges that come with adapting a book with an almost cult following:

CLICK: You've also got a lot of other sci-fi movies on the way - like Ender's Game. It's another tough world to adapt, with many fans.

RO: Yea the thing about dealing with franchises is there are fans and they have expectations and you want to please them. And yet you also have to be true to adapting something into live action. And you have to make some tough choices. So you always hope that the fans understand the choices you make and that you are true to translating the thing that you loved about any given property, be it Star Trek, Transformers or Ender's Game. The book is very internal and you want to make sure you are translating that in a way that is true to the book but is also true to the scope of cinema. (Source)

If you haven't already, make sure you check out the Q&A session on the official Ender's Game production blog where Orci answered loads of questions regarding his favorite scenes, visual influences, and the translation of Ender's inner monologue to the big screen! (Part 1 | Part 2)

156 days to go.

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Jacob Leinbach as Mick... O'Reilly?

Mick actor Jacob Leinbach has been cast as John Brinkman in a short film titled Locker 212, the "story of a high school bully who gets his wallflower-victim caught up in a conflict with school authority." The film is set to shoot this July, and a Kickstarter has been set up to raise the money needed to finance the project.

To promote the Kickstarter, Jacob recently sat down to talk about his involvement in the film, also mentioning his work in other projects such as Homeland and, of course, Ender's Game. And while his character is only ever referred to as "Mick" in the book, it sounds like the pudding thief we know and love has been granted a last name for the film: O'Reilly. Has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?



Jacob is also credited as Mick O'Reilly on his IMDB resume page.

The creative team behind Locker 212 has "set out to tell a story that will inspire viewers to make a difference on the personal level by reaching out to the victims and bullies in their communities." If you feel this is a cause worth supporting, head over to the film's Kickstarter page and make a donation!

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Shoot Straight: Introduction by Orson Scott Card

Hey guys! Welcome to the first installment of Shoot Straight: An Ender's Game Reread. Over the next months leading up to the release of the film (with a short break for SDCC), I'll be reading a chapter of the novel a week and reporting back here on the weekend with my thoughts. I'd love for you guys to follow along and participate in the comment section of each post.

I'll be reading from the 1994 revised mass market edition of Ender's Game. It doesn't particularly matter which edition you're reading, though if you're a lucky owner of a copy of the book published before '91, the introduction will obviously not be included.

I'm admittedly not really a huge fan of introductions in books; I find them tedious and sometimes full of spoilers so I tend to avoid them. When I first read the novel back in 1999, I remember reading the introduction to Ender's Game, but I don't believe I've made it all the way through since. I guess that's going to change now -- let's see what interesting tidbits we find!

About the Introduction

The introduction to Ender's Game was written in 1991 and first published in "Phoenix Rising," a magazine composed by a group of students at a residential program for gifted teens at Purdue University. Card sent them the intro and allowed them to publish it before it appeared in his novel as a response to a letter they mailed him in March of 1991. 

Card jokes in the first paragraph of the introduction that, while many people had written to him to exclaim over how much they loved the novel, no one had mentioned that it particularly needed an introduction. However, since the novel was being reprinted in a hardcover edition, he wrote the intro to "mark the occasion."

Summary

In the intro, we learn how Ender's story first unfolded in Orson Scott Card's mind, as well as how it transformed from a short story to a full-fledged novel. Card also speaks quite a lot about the novel's reception and the importance of fiction in society -- the latter being the part of the intro I liked best.

Thoughts

- It's very interesting to think that it was the idea of the Battle Room and not Ender himself that Card first developed, especially since it is the character that we are all so attached to now. How the gravity-free game came to him is equally as fascinating: with an older brother in the military and a love of war stories, Card began to ponder what it would be like to train soldiers in the future. He surmised, after reading Issac Asimov's Foundation triology, they would be trained in space and forced to redo their patterns of thinking with no up and down at all: the Battle Room.

- As a huge musical theater fan, the thought of Orson Scott Card beginning his career in theater and working as a playwright makes me inordinately happy.

- I know it's not news, but the thought of Ender's Game existing at first in Card's mind as a set-up for Speaker for the Dead never fails to blow my mind. They are such different novels, different stories. Sometimes I find it very hard to reconcile the weary Ender at the end of Ender's Game with the well-spoken, kind man he is in Speaker. Though, I'll admit that Ender in Exile came a long way in bridging that gap for me.

- Crystal and I actually spoke about the negative reception to Ender's Game in the most recent episode of EnderCast. Namely, one teacher's accusation that Card's "depiction of gifted children was hopelessly unrealistic."

? ---> While the story is fiction, do you believe there are aspects of the portrayal of children in Ender's Game that are spot on? Since obviously none of us are genius 6-year-olds, what is it about the story that we really relate to?

Favorite Quotes

"I learned that history is shaped by the use of power, and that different people, leading the same army, with, therefore, approximately the same power, applied it so differently that the same army seemed to change from a pack of noble fools at Fredericksburg [...] and then, finally, to the disciplined, professional army that ground Lee to dust in Grant's long campaign. It wasn't the soldiers who changed. It was the leader."

"The story of Ender's Game is not this book, though it has that title emblazoned on it. The story is one that you and I will construct together in your memory. If the story means anything to you at all, then when you remember it afterward, think of it, not as something I created, but rather as something we made together."

* * * 

 « Index | Chapter 1: Peter » 

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Countdown: 162 days! "Ender's Game" Movie Timeline Part 2

After it occurred to me last night that today is the 1 year anniversary of my visit to the Ender's Game set in New Orleans, I admittedly became a little bummed. Where in the world has the time gone?

(You can read both of my set visit reports here: Part 1, Part 2)

To celebrate the day, I thought we could go back and review what's happened in the past 6 months since I posted my first Ender's Game timeline. If you're just now catching up on movie happenings, make sure to read that one first!

Let's start where I left off last time, shall we?

November 12, 2012: Aramis Knight and Andrea Powell attended the premiere of Breaking Dawn Pt. 2 in Los Angeles. We were hoping they could meet up for a photo, but they couldn't find each other!

November 17, 2012: An edited version of the full synopsis of the Ender's Game film was released by Summit Entertainment:

In the near future, a hostile alien race (called the Formics) have attacked Earth. If not for the legendary heroics of International Fleet Commander, Mazer Rackham (Ben Kingsley), all would have been lost. In preparation for the next attack, the highly esteemed Colonel Graff (Harrison Ford) and the International Military are training only the best young children to find the future Mazer. Ender Wiggin (Asa Butterfield), a shy, but strategically brilliant boy is pulled out of his school to join the elite.

Arriving at Battle School, Ender quickly and easily masters increasingly difficult war games, distinguishing himself and winning respect amongst his peers. Ender is soon ordained by Graff as the military’s next great hope, resulting in his promotion to Command School. Once there, he’s trained by Mazer Rackham, himself, to lead his fellow soldiers into an epic battle that will determine the future of Earth and save the human race.

November 19, 2012: Ender News released the second part of our SDCC 2012 interview with Orson Scott Card where he speaks a lot about the upcoming film. Before you start reading, you might want to check out Part 1 in which he talks about his novel Earth Unaware!

November 23, 2012: Jimmy Jax Pinchak and Ender's Game stunt coordinator Garrett Warren faced off in their annual Thanksgiving football game. Guess who won. Thanks for the pics, guys. :)

November 30, 2012: We reported on a book signing and extensive Q&A session in which Orson Scott Card participated, where he gushed over the film's Battle Room scenes and clarified his semi-infamous "very few of the scenes in this movie [come from the book]" quote.

December 05, 2012: Entertainment Weekly unveiled the first official Ender's Game still which we later broke down for fans.

December 13, 2012: Crystal from EnderWiggin.net and I officially launched our Ender's Game podcast: EnderCast! 14 episodes in, we are still running strong.

December 15, 2012: The cast attended Hailee Steinfeld's 16th birthday party in LA.

January 17, 2013: EnderSpeaker discovered that Amazon.com is accepting pre-orders for an official Ender's Game 2014 calendar.

February 06, 2013: Brandon Soo Hoo sat down with teen entertainment magazine J-14 to speak about his role (Fly Molo) in Ender's Game and what it was like to work with some of his teenage co-stars.

"My character, Fly Molo, is a veteran soldier in Battle School. At first, he is introduced as Bonzo's lackey, but he eventually comes to recognize Ender as the superior commander. I can definitely relate to Fly's second-in-command role. A leader will always feel the majority of the pressure in a high-stakes situation, whereas the lieutenant is usually allowed to function below the radar. However, I'd say that unlike Fly, I would have a bit of trouble putting up with Bonzo. I have mild authority issues."

February 11, 2013: Suraj Partha covers Phillip Phillips' "Gone Gone Gone" and posted the video on his personal YouTube channel. A must watch! Since everyone is so musically talented, I'm still waiting around for an Ender's Game cast band to pop up.

February 12, 2013: We announced that Cryptozoic Entertainment had obtained the rights to produce not only an Ender's Game board game, but a trading card series as well!

February 19, 2013: Four of the Ender's Game army insignias were exclusively revealed by the fan sites who visited the set last year - including Ender News! Check out Salamander, Rat and Asp -- as well as Dragon Army to the left.

February 20, 2013: Just a day later, those same fan sites unveiled an exciting still of Ender and Petra in the Battle School mess hall. We also included a set visit preview -- with promises of much more to come! No worries: we haven't forgotten.

February 24, 2013: Aramis Knight and Khylin Rhambo smartened themselves up for a night on the town at Hollywood's Oscars after-party.

February 28, 2013: Hailee Steinfeld signed copies of Ender's Game while out in support of Our Military Kids in Phoenix, AZ.

March 01, 2013: Ender News turned 1! 

March 19, 2013: A sneak peak of the Ender's Game trailer was shown to lucky professionals at the GAMA Trade Show in Las Vegas - to raving reviews!

March 22, 2013: Rames from Ender News posted a great overview of what he believes when can expect regarding  Ender's Game movie marketing.

March 24, 2013: Director Gavin Hood posted a sneak peak of the teaser poster over on the official production blog.

"Without exception, every person who works on this wonderful film brings more than just skill to the table. They bring passion."

March 25, 2013: Yahoo! Movies unveiled the first official Ender's Game teaser poster alongside an exclusive phone interview with Gavin Hood.

March 25, 2013: Producer Bob Orci casually mentioned on twitter that the Ender's Game trailer would make its cinematic debut in May in front of Star Trek Into Darkness. Way to make it no big deal, right?

March 27, 2013: Harrison Ford spoke with Entertainment Tonight and admitted that he believes Ender's Game "could be great."

April 1, 2013: Many of Asa Butterfield's cast and crew members rose to the occasion and sent in photos wishing him a very happy birthday! Thanks again to everyone who participated!

April 18, 2013: Ender's Game cast members Asa Butterfield, Hailee Steinfeld, and Harrison Ford hit CinemaCon, where they were honored with awards -- plus, the trailer was shown during Summit's 2-hour 2013 project presentation.

April 20, 2013: Orson Scott Card and Aaron Johnston spoke at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books where Card admitted that he believes Speaker for the Dead to be unfilmable:

"'Speaker for the Dead' is unfilmable," Card said in response to a question from the audience. "It consists of talking heads, interrupted by moments of excruciating and unwatchable violence. Now, I admit, there's plenty of unwatchable violence in film, but never attached to my name.

"'Speaker for the Dead, I don't want it to be filmed. I can't imagine it being filmed'."

April 27, 2013: While making promotional rounds for Iron Man 3, Sir Ben Kingsley (Mazer Rackham) spoke to Coventry Telegraph about his other upcoming projects, Ender's Game included:

Mazar Rackham [is] a combination of historically ancient warrior in that he is descended from Maori and has Maori tattooed on his face. And at the same time he is teaching children how to operate drones. So he is very advanced and also rooted in an ancient warrior tradition.

May 01, 2013: Enterrtainment Weekly gave the world its first look at Sir Ben Kinglsey as Mazer Rackham - in full makeup! Check out those Maori tattoos.

May 02, 2013: Asa Butterfield and Harrison Ford previewed the first trailer for Ender's Game on YouTube with a 10-second teaser of entirely new footage. They also announced an exciting live Google Hangout with Bob Orci, Gavin Hood, and Asa Butterfield before the debut of the trailer.

May 03, 2013: Thanks to @BKilek, we gave you your first look at the Ender's Game movie tie-in book covers. You can pick one up at Barnes and Noble - Hardcover and Paperback!

May 06, 2013: Summit unveiled the official movie website, the IF Sentinel: a communication hub of the International Fleet with the fictional public of Ender's world.

May 07, 2013: The first Ender's Game trailer debuted on Google and YouTube. With over 4 million views already, it won't hurt to watch it again, right?



Asa Butterfield also spoke with Hollywood.com about Zero-G, Space Camp and what makes the character of Ender Wiggin so special.

May 08, 2013: Asa Butterfield participated in a Reddit AMA.

May 09, 2013: Summit confirmed that Steve Jablonsky (not James Horner) is to score Ender's Game.

May 13, 2013: Cryptozoic's Ender's Game trading cards are most likely to include cast/crew autograph cards. Can't wait to get my hands on these.

May 17, 2013: Producers Bob Orci and and Alex Kurtzman briefly addressed the sensitive issue of Orson Scott Card's controversial views on gay marriage and how these views may or may not affect the reception of the film:

"The book is beautiful. It’s about tolerance, it’s about responsibility, it’s about growing up. We just tend to judge a book on its own merits. Nothing that anyone could say is going to remove our original reaction of how we perceive this beautiful book. For us, it’s just about the book."

 May 21, 2013: Summit released a new promotional photo of Colonel Graff and Ender -- with a great look at Dragon Army's flash suit helmet.

And we're back to today. Only 162 days to go, Launchies. Did you know it was 364 days to go last time I posted a timeline? Look how far we've come!

How's everyone holding up?

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New Promo Photo Featuring Graff, Ender -- and a Flash Suit!

The official Ender's Game Facebook page caught us off guard today by casually posting a brand new promo photo -- again featuring Colonel Graff and Ender Wiggin -- but this time we get an absolutely fantastic look at the flash suit helmets.

If you take a look in the upper right hand corner of the photo, there is also a fun look at what we can only assume is Ender's battle stats as commander of Dragon Army:

Win: 14
Lose: 0
Draw: 0

If you look closely below that, there is a chart with the two standard gender symbols: 12 males, 3 females. Possibly denoting the makeup of his army? After taking a closer look at the still of Dragon from the trailer, we think that might be the case:



There could possibly be one other female in Dragon but it's hard to be sure without a hi-res version of the photo. What do you guys think? This definitely fits with our other theory that Dragon Army consists of the commander (Ender) plus 14 other soldiers.

Loving the flash suit helmet!

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EnderCast Episode #14: Ender's Shadow

Hey guys! We released another episode of EnderCast yesterday titled "Ender's Shadow." In this episode we covered:

- Gavin Hood's birthday
- the Ender's Game trailer in theaters
- Asa’s Reddit AMA, new projects, and time for sequels
- Autograph cards from Cryptozoic
- Moises Arias' Bonzo
- Alex Kurtzman and Bob Orci's reaction to "The Card Question"

Don't forget: you can listen to EnderCast whenever you like by subscribing to us on iTunes!

Thanks again for tuning in!

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Bob Orci: "It’s about tolerance, it’s about responsibility, it’s about growing up."

Producing duo Bob Orci and Alex Kurtzman recently sat down with The Wall Street Journal's entertainment blog Speakeasy to discuss their newly-released Star Trek Into Darkness as well as other upcoming projects -- Ender's Game included.

This is part two of a two-part interview. You can check out the first part of their interview (which includes more Star Trek talk) here.

What were some of the challenges you and director Gavin Hood faced in adapting Orson Scott Card’s "Ender's Game" into a film?

Orci: "Ender's Game" was a book that we both loved from teenagehood. It was published in 1985 and I think we read it in high school, maybe even earlier. The challenge with the book is it’s very internal in that a lot of the narrative that occurs is within the character’s head and the trick is, how do you dramatize that? The answer is both through having some of those internal struggles be dramatically shown as scenes, and second, we have an advantage that the book does not have, and that is actors. We have great actors who can not only say things, but play things and play reactions on their faces and actually convey a lot of the emotion of the book. Thankfully now we have the technology to make it the grand adventure that it deserves to be. We have the technology to render a Zero-G environment in a totally believable and incredible way.

They also briefly tackled the sensitive issue of Orson Scott Card's controversial views on gay marriage and how these views may or may not affect the reception of the film:

Orci: I was never aware of in the book – and we’ve read it three or four times during our lifetime before we got into this movie – I never saw any sign in “Ender’s Game” of anything that offended Alex or me. The book is beautiful. It’s about tolerance, it’s about responsibility, it’s about growing up. We just tend to judge a book on its own merits. Nothing that anyone could say is going to remove our original reaction of how we perceive this beautiful book. For us, it’s just about the book.

Kurtzman: Look, obviously it’s a First Amendment issue and Mr. Card is free to express whatever point-of-view he chooses to express, and we are free to disagree with him. At this point, that’s all I really want to say about it.

Great statements from both of these men. At this point, it seems that's pretty much all anyone cares to say about it.

168 days until Ender's Game hits US theaters!

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Asa Butterfield to Reunite with Chloe Moretz in "The White Circus"

Screen Daily reported today that Asa Butterfield is now attached to the dark fairytale The White Circus, also starring Andrea Riseborough, Christian Friedel and Butterfield's Hugo co-star Chloe Moretz. From the article:

The White Circus is described as a “dark fairytale of with moments of brilliant black comedy”. It revolves around a young pilot who crashes his plane in a war-torn town where he befriends a talking circus bear, falls in love with a cabaret singer and challenges a maniacal despot.

The film is planned to begin shooting in Germany and Serbia in February 2014.

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Shoot Straight: Let's reread "Ender's Game!"

Hey Launchies! With the movie's release date drawing ever nearer -- and in an effort to promote literacy and brain activity while everyone is lounging about this summer -- I decided it would be fun to throw together an official Ender's Game reread.  

(Thanks to Hailee Steinfeld for inadvertently naming the reread!)

This is especially for those of you who haven't read the book yet. Seriously, what are you waiting for?

Let's keep it simple: starting May 19th, I'll be reading read one chapter of Ender's Game a week and will be coming back here every weekend to post a short summary and my thoughts/comments. And since I prefer an audience, you guys should read along as well!

In the comments section of every post, I'd love to have a discussion about the material: what we've read, our favorite parts, amusing quotes, details we never noticed before, etc. Most of all, I'd like to rekindle our passion for Ender's story before the film's release this November and remind everyone that the movie is a fun bonus for fans -- not a replacement of the original material.

The reread should be fun, lighthearted, and casual. The first person to allude to the movie "ruining the book" will be iced.

Here's the schedule:

May 19-25 Introduction by Orson Scott Card
May 26-1 Chapter 1: Third
June 2-8 Chapter 2: Peter
June 9-15 Chapter 3: Graff
June 16-22 Chapter 4: Launch
June 23-29 Chapter 5: Games
-- Break for San Diego Comic-Con 2013 --
July 28-3 Chapter 6: The Giant's Drink
August 4-10  Chapter 7: Salamander
August 11-17 Chapter 8: Rat
August 18-24 Chapter 9: Locke and Demosthenes
August 25-31 Chapter 10: Dragon
September 1-7 Chapter 11: Veni Vidi Vici
September 8-14 Chapter 12: Bonzo
September 15-21 Chapter 13: Valentine
September 22-28 Chapter 14: Ender's Teacher
September 29-5 Chapter 15: Speaker for the Dead


Starts Monday - first post will be the weekend following! And if you're into that sort of thing, this might be a good opportunity to go out and pick up a new copy of Ender's Game with the movie tie-in book cover available at Barnes and Noble.

Happy reading!

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"Ender's Game" Trading Card Series to Include Cast Autograph Cards?

We've known for a while now that the fan-focused game publisher Cryptozoic Entertainment is currently working on not only a board game but a trading card series based on the upcoming Ender's Game movie. Since it's still super early in the design process, details regarding the projects are scarce on the ground -- but Theresa Wiggin actress Andrea Powell gave a hint of what's to come on Twitter this morning:

Twitter - thanks, Ms. Powell!

After sending an email Cryptozoic's way, we have confirmed with them that the Ender's Game trading card series will most likely be including autograph cards from various cast members. The actors have been asked if they would like to participate, but we won't know who's agreed until much further down the road -- though, it definitely looks as though Andrea Powell is on board!

Considering what we've seen in some of Cryptozoic's previous card series based on popular television shows and DC comics, here are some other cards we might be able to expect to see in the Ender's Game set:

Film imagery - key scenes from the film, scenery shots (Battle School, Eros, futuristic Earth, etc)

Character bios - headshots of the characters along with biographies

Behind-the-scenes - fun pictures from filming, set pieces, crew, fun facts

Wardrobe cards - shots of authentic flight suits, flash suits/guns, innovative Launchie sock styles

Sketch cards - original Ender's Game art by talented sketch card artists

While this is mostly speculation, the cards definitely have the potential of being very, very cool. However, it looks like we won't be getting our hands on the trading cards for a few months yet as the company will most likely wait to coincide the card series' launch with the film's release. From their Facebook page:

The Ender's Game trailer is live! Look for trading cards and game from Cryptozoic this fall!

Fair enough. Do you think it's too early to start a Christmas wish list?

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Happy Birthday, Gavin Hood!

Everyone here at Ender News would like to wish Gavin Hood a very happy 50th birthday!

Hood on Ender's Game:

"I am a fan, and I have had a desire to do this and have been working on this now for nearly four years." (EW)

We're so glad the film has a director and screenwriter as passionate about Ender's story as we are and can't wait to see his adaptation on screen this November!

Happy birthday, Mr. Hood!

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Trailer Review: "This is like what Tron should have been."

The hilarious team behind Movieclips Trailers reviewed the first Ender's Game teaser last week and it's an absolute must-watch. While none of the trio have read the novel, some of their guesses about plot are pretty accurate:



Except, you know, Valentine being Graff's daughter. Not quite!

Some of my favorite parts:

- The look/music/colors reminds them of Prometheus (Crystal and I had the same thought on EnderCast!)

- "This is like what Tron should have been."

- Look like Legends of the Hidden Temple in space. There is something about very "green monkeys" about those army badges, isn't there?

Orange Iguanas vs. Red Jaguars in the Battle Room?

- They commented on the braille on the name tags. Fun fact: the dots on the tags are inverted.

- "Thats the most intense face makeup I've ever seen, ever."

"I saw a guy with a face tattoo like this once. The guy I saw, though, he could climb a palm tree with his bare hands."

- "This is full of great little actors. Ben Kingsley: great little actor."

- Rosie O'Donnell originally as Graff?  This admittedly made me laugh way longer than it should have.

- Special effects look amazing! "I think this movie is going to make a lot of money."

If you're interested in checking out their other trailer reviews, you can head over to their YouTube page or check them on Facebook!

Thanks for the laughs, guys.

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Aramis Knight's "Welcome to the Family" Picked Up by NBC

Several weeks ago we reported that Bean actor Aramis Knight was set to star in an upcoming single-camera comedy series called Welcome to the Family, a show which "chronicles how cultures collide when a white family and a Latino family are bonded together by their children who fall in love followed quickly by an unplanned pregnancy." (Hollywood Reporter). Yesterday it was announced that the show, directed by Michael Engler, was picked up by NBC.

More from our previous post:

Mike O'Malley, best known for his role as Kurt's (Chris Colfer) father Burt Hummel on Fox's Glee, will play Dan Yoder, an orthodontist, loving husband to Katrina, and father to a teenage daughter, Molly. Katrina will be portrayed by Mary McCormack, star of USA Networks' In Plain Sight, and Ella Rae Peck, known from Gossip Girl as Lola, has been casted as Molly.

Joseph Haro, another Glee alumni (one of the Warblers), will play Molly's boyfriend Junior Hernandez, and Aramis Knight is set to portray his younger brother Demetrio. Their parents will be Ricardo Chavira, who starred as Carlos Solis in Desperate Housewives, and Justina Machado, who can be seen in the current season of Private Practice.

Congratulations, Aramis!

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First Look at Abigail Breslin in "August: Osage County"

Thanks to ABC and Good Morning America, we can check out Abigail Breslin today in the trailer for her newest film, August: Osage County:



(Better quality trailer after the jump.)

Also starring Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts and Ewan McGregor, August: Osage County is "a look at the lives of the strong-willed women of the Weston family, whose paths have diverged until a family crisis brings them back to the Midwest house they grew up in, and to the dysfunctional woman who raised them." (IMDb)

Looks like the end of the year is going to be filled with must-see movies: August: Osage County hits theaters November 8th, 2013.

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Confirmed: Steve Jablonsky to Compose "Ender's Game" Score

Despite the rumors floating around after the Film Music Reporter article which reported that Avatar composer James Horner was attached to the Ender's Game film, Summit Entertainment confirmed with fans today that Steve Jablonsky is the one signed on to score the upcoming movie.

From Wikipedia:

"Jablonsky has composed the soundtracks to the films The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003), Steamboy (2004), The Island (2005), Transformers (2007), D-War (2007), Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009) and Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011). He was also a contributor on Team America: World Police (2004) among many others. In addition, he helped compose some of the music to the video game Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, and composed the theme music in 2003 for the BBC's Seven Wonders of the Industrial World. He continues to write music for the television show Desperate Housewives (2004-2012) since the fourth episode. His track "Trailblazing" served as the opening theme for WrestleMania X8 and WrestleMania XIX, as well at the soundtrack to the TNA Hall of Fame induction of Sting."

We're very glad to have confirmation at last and are looking forward to hearing Jablonsky's take on the film!

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Asa Butterfield Participates in a Reddit AMA

Asa Butterfield hit Reddit today to participate in one of their well-known AMAs -- or "Ask Me Anything." He spent quite a while answering questions from fans and fellow Reddit users, with a surprise appearance from his "Peter-esque" brother, Morgan Butterfield.

Here are some of our favorite responses:

Q: How does working on a project that means so much to so many make you feel?
Asa: When I first got the role, I said to my mum. 'If there is one thing I want to accomplish by doing this, it is to make the lovers of the book happy. I don't want it to be another Hollywood sci-fi piece of shit'. And from what I've seen so far, I can tell you that it is incredible.

Q: The Stinson and Bonzo scenes in the book they are very dark and very pivotal to the mindset of Ender, how true does the movie hold to the book for that scene?
Asa: Very, me, Gavin and the other actors had long discussions about those scenes. I'm sure they will do justice to the way they written in the story. And like in the book, they are pivotal to Enders journey.

Q: Were you offered the role of Ender or was there a competition for it?
Asa: There was a large amount of competition for the role, I'm not saying any name. But it was the hardest I have ever fought to get the part in a film.

Q: What was your favorite scene to shoot?
Asa: Battle Room scenes were probably my favourite to shoot.

Q: Do you have to get approval from PR wranglers to do this [Reddit AMA], or are you just going totally badass maverick?
Asa: No I d[on't] have any support on this, I decided to do this on my own accord. Now thinking about it none knows I'm doing this... Ah well.

Q: Are the fights anywhere near as brutal as in the book? Please say yes...
Asa: The fights are brutal, and very real. But I'm pretty sure we are aiming at PG-13 so bare that in mind.

Check out the rest of Asa's AMA over on Reddit!

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Meanwhile, You Have to Say Your Lines in an American Accent!

With the launch of yesterday's trailer, Ender's Game star Asa Butterfield talked to Hollywood.com about Zero-G, Space Camp and what makes the character of Ender Wiggin so special in his view.

First he shared some stories about Space Camp in Huntsville (Alabama), most of the young actors attended last year in March. And it doesn't sound like so much fun in his words:

"It was painful. There was all sorts of marching, running. 'Left face, right face' where you turn in different directions. If one person in the group of about 100 extras, and 10 or so cast [members], made a mistake, everyone had to do 10 push-ups. And we'd be jogging and if one person fell behind, we'd have to do 10 push-ups. Then [the trainers would] extend it... because they're a bit mean [laughs]."

But the training surely helped Asa handling his "most physically demanding role to date," especially the extended scenes in the Battle Room, strapped to a harness, floating freely to simulate Zero Gravity:

"You have to have your whole body completely tensed up so you're not completely flopped over and suspended by the waist. Meanwhile, you have to move smoothly. Meanwhile, you have to say your lines in an American accent!"

According to Asa, director Gavin Hood has "a deep love for the source material," and I'm sure those of you who have followed the discussion in yesterday's Google+ Hangout will have noticed that as well. He is very passionate about the story and according to Asa "made changes only when necessary. He knew exactly what would be different in terms of things you could physically do when bringing something to screen."

"[The movie is] almost completely true to the original book, except for things like the age of the characters and the time in which the story happened."

When talking about Ender, Asa Butterfield showed that he really got into the lead characters head, with help and guidance from Gavin Hood he learned all the details of the morally very complex role. He said "Ender's way of leading and communicating with other people — not just children, but adults — is completely different. It's one of the things that makes him shine in the school." And when talking about his siblings, Valentine and Peter, and how the relationship to both of them characterizes Ender, he said:

"[Valentine is] completely selfless and open. Peter is the epitome of the worst human being. Ender knows he doesn't want to be Peter, but at times he can't help having his dark side shine through."

While Asa has obviously read and - as he said many times already - loved Ender's Game, he doesn't seem to be very fond of the other books in Orson Scott Card's Enderverse. He couldn't even finish Speaker of the Dead.

"All of the other books in the series... none of them are particularly like Ender's Game. Speaker I started reading, but it's so different. It was a real shock to me how far it varied from the original book. So I didn't end up finishing that. It was too difficult for me to read."

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"Meet the Fleet" Hangout Now Available on YouTube!

Check out the Google hangout a few of us fans participated in today with director Gavin Hood, producer Bob Orci and Ender Wiggin actor Asa Butterfield!

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52 New Screen Caps from the Ender's Game Trailer

We have put together an extended gallery with all the imagery that matters from the new trailer.

Click HERE to see them all

Here is a selection of my favourites:

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Watch The First Ender's Game Trailer!

The first trailer for the movie has been officially released today at 10PM EST in a Google+ Hangout with Asa "Ender" Butterfield, producer Roberto "Bob" Orci, director Gavin Hood, the webmistresses of the leading Ender's Game fansites (including our very own Kelly) and thousands of fans from all around the world.

The trailer is now available on YouTube:

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Official Movie Website Launched: The I.F. Sentinel

More action for the Ender's Game fandom this morning! In anticipation of tomorrow's launch of the very first teaser trailer, the folks over at Summit unveiled the IF Sentinel this morning: a communication hub of the International Fleet with the fictional public of Ender's world.

They have several bulletins up already, all using the voice of the Fleet to remind Earth's citizens to keep informed:

Series: Mission Statement of the International Fleet
Next Leader Recruitment
Developing a Strategic Mind
Looking Back at the Great Invasion
Thirds

Along with the launch of the Sentinel, we also got a peek at new imagery from the movie, including Ender checking out the standings board in the mess hall and those gas masks we reported on last year. Can anyone make out who that is in the photo? A young Mazer Rackham, perhaps?



What do you guys think? Browse through the rest of the I.F. Sentinel and make sure you check back often: keep informed.

And don't forget: the very first Ender's Game teaser trailer will debut tomorrow via a Google+ Hangout @ 1:00 PM PT / 4:00 PM ET. Don't miss out!

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Movie Dragon Army = Ender +14

Summit Entertainment posted a new image on the movie's official Facebook page. It's another still from last week's trailer preview showing Ender and Graff, but it has a new computer text overlay that reads: DRAGON ARMY - LEADER: ENDER WIGGIN - SQUAD No. 416 - CREW:// 15, followed by a list of 14 names in small print.

As we know that everything that is officially made public by the studio's promotion department is heavily controlled and not done accidentally, we can safely assume that the movie's Dragon Army has 15 members including Ender. It also serves as confirmation for our original assessment that the group picture from the trailer shows indeed all the soldiers of newly formed Dragon Army awaiting their new commander.



We see the Dragon Army logo on the back wall and there are exactly 14 people in this picture, likely the names from the above list.

There are some obvious differences from the book's Dragon Army which consisted of 40 soldiers (5 toons of 8) and certain characters we can identify in the picture were not members of Dragon Army in the novel, most notably Dink (Khylin Rhambo, green shirt) and Bernard (Conor Carroll, tall guy in yellow suit). We also see four girls in this group, when the book only mentions one (Wu) female Dragon Army soldier.

It makes sense to add more girls to the movie than we know from the book as the novel has only 13 named soldiers (out of 40) and there should have been more girls anyway. A much tighter Dragon Army should work well for the movie, especially as we can see in the group picture that one of the most important aspects of Dragon Army's story - that is was compiled as a mix of inexperienced Launchies and veterans - has been kept alive!

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First Look at Possible "Ender's Game" Movie Tie-In Book Covers

They look pretty legit to us -- but we'll look into this and find out where you can possibly pick one up! More info coming soon! :)

Thanks to @BKilek for the heads-up!

Edit: Looks like you can get a movie tie-in version of Ender's Game at Barnes and Noble! Hardcover and Paperback! According to the site, it will be available May 7th... but it looks like it's already on the shelf in some locations.

Any other Launchies out there know where you can pick one up?

Exciting!

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WATCH: 10 Second Preview of First "Ender's Game" Trailer - Is That Dragon Army?

Our first footage! Watch below to see Harrison Ford and Asa Butterfield give us a sneak peek of next Tuesday's Ender's Game teaser trailer:



I don't know about you guys, but I am freaking out. And I think we may have our first look at Dragon Army:



Seen here: Khylin Rhambo (Dink Meeker), Conor Carroll (Bernard), Aramis Knight (Bean), Suraj Partha (Alai), and Brandon Soo Hoo (Fly Molo).

Check out that Dragon Army logo in the back! And why else would a bunch of soldiers from various armies PLUS Launchies be gathered in one barracks? They definitely seem to be waiting for their commander to walk through the door. It looks like Bernard might be in Dragon Army -- what a journey for him!

Here's some info on the Hangout and trailer release, courtesy of Summit:

The world premiere of the first teaser trailer for ENDER'S GAME will debut during a Google+ Hangout on Tuesday, May 7 @ 1:00 PM PT / 4:00 PM ET. The event will also feature a live conversation with director Gavin Hood (X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE), producer Bob Orci (STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS) and star Asa Butterfield (HUGO).

Stars Harrison Ford and Asa Butterfield want to say hello and show you a sneak peek of the first footage ever released of the highly anticipated epic adventure: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0OHtH_RWnZE

You can tune in to the live Google+ Hangout at YouTube.com/EndersGameMovie and Google.com/+EndersGame.  Fans are invited to submit their questions for a chance to have them answered in the Hangout. Join in the conversation online using #EndersGame.

Join the event here: https://plus.google.com/events/cuito512urg0a64r6bc2ocuakuc

For additional updates visit the following:

Google.com/+EndersGame

Facebook.com/EndersGame

Twitter.com/EndersGameMovie

IF-Sentinel.com

And it looks like the IF-Sentinel might arrive right on time for the trailer so keep your eyes peeled here for exciting updates in the coming days!

Keep your knees up.

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New Stills From The Trailer Preview

"You'll be the finest commander we've ever trained..."
"So I'm not the first..."
"No... but you will be the last!"

Asa Butterfield and Harrison Ford previewed the first trailer for Ender's Game last night on YouTube with a 10-second teaser of entirely new footage. If you haven't seen the announcement head over to YouTube.

Here are the stills:

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