I broke the blog.

But I'm in the process of fixing it! In the meantime, you have to look at it like this -- in all its ugly glory. Apologies!

If you want to reach other parts of EN, visit EnderNews.com and follow the menus there. :)

 Kelly

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Gaskins Signs Autograph Cards for Trading Card Game

Cryptozoic updated their Facebook page yesterday with some more information regarding the upcoming Ender's Game trading cards, a well as a few pictures of Cameron Gaskins (Pol Slattery) signing a few of his soon-to-be-desired autograph cards himself!

The signing took place at University of George where Cameron is currently enrolled as a freshman. A few of the cards he personalized with "Go Dawgs" -- Dawgs referring to the UGA mascot, the bulldog. A huge thank you to Mike for sending in some photos of the event!

Here is a list of confirmed signers for those of you who may have missed the announcement in December:

Asa Butterfield as Ender Wiggin
Harrison Ford as Colonel Graff
Brandon Soo Hoo as Fly Molo
Aramis Knight as Bean
Khylin Rhambo as Dink Meeker
Conor Carroll as Bernard
Suraj Partha as Alai
Nonso Anozie as Sergeant Dap
Jimmy 'Jax' Pinchak as Peter Wiggin
Andrea Powell as Theresa Wiggin
Caleb J. Thaggard as Stilson
Cameron Gaskins as Pol Slattery
Han Soto as Colonel Graff's aide

Cryptozoic also gave us a fun look at the card packets and folder which will be available in Q3 of this year, most likely sometime between July 1 and September 30.

Keeping checking back -- fingers crossed that some more of these pics start streaming in!

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Post23 Shares "Making of Ender's Game - The Mind Game"

Post23, the Barcelona-based VFX and post-production house responsible for the mind game sequence in Ender's Game, recently shared this incredible behind-the-scenes video of the creation process.

Check out more concept art and fun production photos at the source!

Thanks, Fernanda!

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Ender's Game Nominated for 3 Saturn Awards

Ender's Game received three nominations for the 40th Saturn Awards, a ceremony honoring the best in science fiction, fantasy and horror film 2013, which will be held this June in Burbank, California. These are the most prestigious genre awards in the film industry, and last year's winners include The Avengers, Life Of Pi, Jennifer Lawrence and Matthew McConaughey.

Best Science Fiction Film (Nominations)

Ender's Game
Gravity
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
Pacific Rim
Riddick
Star Trek Into Darkness

This will be a tough one to win for Ender's Game, as the award will most likely go to Gravity anyway. But it's good to see Gavin Hood and his work getting recognized with this nomination.

Best Supporting Actor (Nominations)

Daniel Brühl – Rush
George Clooney – Gravity
Benedict Cumberbatch – Star Trek Into Darkness
Harrison Ford – Ender's Game
Tom Hiddleston – Thor: The Dark World
Ben Kingsley – Iron Man 3
Bill Nighy – About Time

The chances for Ender to win this one are also quite slim here. If you have seen Daniel Brühl's performance in Rush, you know what I mean. But again, with so many genre films on the 2013 roster, it's nice to see Ender's Game getting a second nomination in this category.

Best Performance by a Younger Actor (Nominations)

Asa Butterfield – Ender's Game
Chloë Grace Moretz – Carrie
Sophie Nélisse – The Book Thief
Saoirse Ronan – How I Live Now
Ty Simpkins – Iron Man 3
Dylan Sprayberry – Man of Steel

This is where Ender's Game has the best chance to actually win the Saturn Award, and - having seen five of the six nominated films (missing How I Live Now) - I firmly believe that Asa Butterfield should deservedly win this one. Asa's performance was outstanding, and portraying such an iconic character, where most of the audience carried their own very personal image of Ender for years or even decades, was certainly not an easy task.

So fingers crossed for a positive outcome in June, and Asa, if you do not win this at the award ceremony, you know that you are our winner now already!

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Variety: Ender's Game Franchise Will More Than Likely Live On

Ender's Game debuted at No. 2 of the official Nielsen VideoScan First Alert chart this week, a ranking which tracks overall disc sales, DVD and Blu-ray combined. And there wasn't really a fair chance for Ender to take the top spot, as that was set to be taken by Disney's classic The Jungle Book, which has never before been available on Blu-ray Disc.

Variety, a well-established authority in the movie industry, took the strong disc sales as a pretty solid reason to conclude that the Ender's Game franchise is still very much alive:

Gavin Hood's adaptation of Orson Scott Card's classic novel, wasn't quite the box office smash some had expected, but its theatrical performance was strong enough – and its disc debut, high enough – that the franchise will more than likely live on in some fashion.

That's pretty good news for now, and we are trying our best here at Ender News to get you some information from the studio about the current status of Ender's Game.

Let me use this opportunity to give you an update about the movie's box office returns and how well it did in the various international markets. In North America (U.S. & Canada), Ender's Game earned $61.7 million and ranked No. 57 for 2013. That is probably not what the studio has hoped for, but it is also not as bad as some critics have suggested. As Variety puts it, "its theatrical performance was strong enough."

The film earned about that same amount of money in international markets, and it was a surprise success in mainland China where the film opened this January and earned more than $21 million so far.

Generally the story of Ender was especially popular in South-East Asia, and for all markets where the movie opened in 2013 it ranked highest in Thailand where it made No. 41 of the full year top list. Keep in mind that foreign markets are not just a carbon copy of the U.S.; there are many domestic movies ranking at the very top, so Ender's Game ending up higher than in its home market is even more positive.

Here is the full list for all international markets where the film opened in November or December, and the position of Ender's Game in the final 2013 box office list.

Thailand	(2013 Rank)  41
Ecuador	47
Singapore	50
Malaysia	53
USA & Canada	57
Philippines	58
New Zealand	67
South Korea	68
Spain	70
Brazil	75
Bulgaria	81
Ukraine	81
South Africa	82
Croatia	84
Poland	84
UK & Ireland	84
Iceland	85
Czech Republic	86
Hong Kong	91
Australia	92
Slovakia	93
Hungary	95
Egypt	99
France	101
Russia	101
Serbia & Montenegro	104
Sweden	104
Slovenia	108
Portugal	111
Germany	118
Italy	119
Finland	123
Turkey	126
Belgium	128
Norway	129
Denmark	132
Austria	142

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Video: Ender and his best suited up for Space Camp!

To kick-off yesterday's release of the Ender's Game DVD, Just Jared Jr. treated us to a fun look behind-the-scenes at Space Camp -- where Asa Butterfield and some of his co-stars suited up for a unforgettable, team-building boot camp. Check it out:



Read more about their pre-filming trip to Space Camp here.

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Bonus Features Video: Finding a Perfectly Fierce Ender

Yesterday, Entertainment Tonight debuted an exclusive clip from the DVD / Blu-ray bonus features in which the cast and crew talk about the huge challenge of finding the perfect Ender Wiggin -- and how they found the qualities they were looking for in the talented Asa Butterfield.



Ender's Game is available on DVD and Blu-ray TODAY.

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Bob Orci Talks Theoretical "Ender's Game" Sequels

In an exclusive interview with Crave Online, producer Bob Orci recently addressed a couple questions currently weighing on the mind of every Ender's Game fan: Will there be sequels? If so, will the sequel be Speaker for the Dead? From the article:

"They have rights to certain of the books," Orci said. "I'm not sure which ones, and it's two companies so I'm not sure who controls it."

So the sequel could be another book in the Ender series, but in a different order. Card did write Ender in Exile in 2008, long after Speaker, Xenocide and Children of the Mind. A War of Gifts takes place during Ender's time in Battle School. Orci had another promising option too.

"Or it could be potentially original because in Speaker for the Dead you pick him up when he's already a man. There might be an in between step if that happens."

Speaker does jump ahead into Ender's adulthood, so an original sequel would give them the option of sticking with the cast of Asa Butterfield, Hailee Steinfeld and Abigail Breslin.

"That's why I think the rights that they worked out is it could either be one of the books or it could be original or a mix so that you can do what you need to do for a movie," Orci said.

Here's the current what's what regarding Ender's Game sequels: none of the fan sites have any idea, most of the "facts" you'll find on Twitter and Tumblr are intensely fictionalized, and anyone who might know for sure isn't talking.

Does that keep us from hoping? Of course not. And speaking for myself, I would be perfectly happy if any potential sequel involved book mash-ups or original stories involving Ender and his Battle School best. The possibilities are essentially endless -- and I'm certain, whatever happens, those possibilities are in the right hands.

Here's a big shout out to Bob Orci for helping keep the Ender fan flame alive!

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Best of Ender's Game: Ender News Highlights from 2013!

January 17, 2013: The first piece of Ender's Game merchandise was unveiled, a 2014 wall calendar! Filled with loads of stills from the film and production tidbits. What could be a better way to start off the new year than grabbing one for yourself?

February 19, 2013: The Ender fansites unveiled four of the Ender's Game battle school logos, with Ender News debuting the insignia for Dragon Army.

© Summit Entertainment LLC

February 20, 2013: The next day, we unveiled a still of Ender and Petra in the Battle School messhall along with a preview of their upcoming set visit pieces. Remember how the release date for the set visit reports kept getting pushed later and later? We sure do! Read ours here.

March 1, 2013: Ender News turned 1 year old!

March 19, 2013: A sneak peak of the first Ender's Game trailer was (accidentally?) shown at the GAMA trade show in Los Vegas, to rave reviews -- and all of us not in attedence lost our minds.

March 20, 2013: Summit Entertainment launched the official Ender's Game movie twitter and and teased the website, IF-Sentinel.com.

March 25, 2013: The first teaser poster was unveiled, with a  teaser on the official production blog the day before by director Gavin Hood. He also participated in a phone interview with Yahoo! Movies and spoke extensively about the creation of the Battle Room.

April 1, 2013: The fansites and fellow members of the cast wished Asa Butterfield a very happy 16th birthday -- in pictures!

April 18, 2013: The first Ender's Game trailer debuted at CinemaCon with many of the cast members in attendance for panels, including Harrison Ford! (Videos: Harrison Ford | Asa Butterfield)

May 7, 2013: The trailer finally arrived after being teased a few days earlier via a 10-second preview -- which included an intro by Asa Butterfield and Harrison Ford.

To launch the trailer, fan site admins and fans participated in a "Meet the Fleet" hangout with Asa Butterfield, director Gavin Hood, and producer Bob Orci!

May 9, 2013: It was confirmed with Summit that Steve Jablonsky would be composing the Ender's Game score, squashing all rumors that Avatar composer James Horner was attached to the film.

June 10, 2013: Aidan published the first in her series of posts following the creation of her Battle School flight suits.

June 22, 2013: We met the winner of the Ender's Game premiere tickets, Kelson Record -- whom I had the pleasure of meeting in Los Angeles later in the year!

June 25, 2013: The IF-Sentinel relaunched with 3 very cool propaganda posters, one of which you can see to the left. And did we ever figure out who the soldier is in the Next Generation poster? Crystal from EnderWiggin.net pointed out that there is a very familiar photo of Fly Molo in Ender's Game: Inside the World of an Epic Adventure...

July 10, 2013: Colonel Graff and Ender Wiggin were on the cover of Endertainment Weekly.

July 17, 2013: The character banners which hung in the Ender's Game experience at Comic-Con were unveiled to the public. (Video: Watch Asa and Hailee walk though the experience here.)

July 24, 2013: Gavin Hood and Bob Orci reenact a tender scene from Ender's Game during our interview with them after the Comic-Con panel in San Diego.

July 29, 2013: Crystal and I via EnderCast published our podcast interviews with the guys from Ender's Game: our first interview was with Conor Carroll (Bernard) and Caleb Thaggard (Stilson), the second was a huge group interview with with Aramis Knight (Bean), Jimmy Jax Pinchak (Peter), Suraj Partha (Alai), Khylin Rhambo (Dink Meeker), Cameron Gaskins (Pol Slattery), Conor Carroll (Bean), Caleb Thaggard (Stilson), and Brandon Soo Hoo (Fly Molo)

August 8, 2013: The final trailer debuted. Shoot straight, stay calm.

August 28, 2013: The Ender's Game fansites unveiled the first of their set visit reports!

Part One: The Production Art Tour
Part Two: Interview with Gavin Hood
Part Two B:: 20 Exciting Ender's Game Props
Part Three: Interview with Christine Bieselin Clark 
Part Four: The Cast Talks Stunts, Buggers, and Pop Tarts
Part Five: Interview with Stunt Coordinator Garrett Warren

September 12, 2013: Two brand new IF propaganda posters were unveiled by Summit Entertainment.

September 21, 2013: The Ender's Game soundtrack cover and details were released. Order it now on Amazon!

October 2, 2013: The IMAX poster and absolutely kickass fan collage were unveiled by Fandango!

October 5, 2013: Your Ender's Game fansites exclusively unveiled the first clip from the film entitled "Ender's Army." More clips:

Command School Ice Battle
Graff Recruiting Ender
You Will Be the Last
Ready Enough
Nothing Left at All
Welcome to Battle School

October 17, 2013: The beautiful Ender's Game posters by Mondo were unveiled and later made available on October 24th.

October 19, 2013: Ender Wiggin actor Asa Butterfield stopped by EnderCast along with producers Bob Orci and Gigi Pritzker!

October 25, 2013: We launched the Ender News Review-o-Meter where tracked all English-language Ender reviews and rated them a la Rotten Tomatoes.

October 28, 2013: Kelly and Aidan from Ender News, the ladies from other Ender fansites, and CharityBuzz auction winner Kelson all attended the Ender's Game premiere in Los Angeles. Read Kelson's report here.

© Ender's Ansible

November 1, 2013: Ender's Game hit US theaters! Read my review here -- needless to say, I loved it.

--

Happy New Year, Launchies! What was your favorite fan moment in 2013?

Here's to more Ender in 2014!

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And the Happiest of New Years!

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"Ender's Game" DVD, Blu-Ray Available February 11, 2014

Heads up, Launchies! Earlier today Crave Online unveiled an exclusive preview of the box art and special features of the Ender's Game Blu-ray and DVD which will be available on February 11, 2014. According to the announcement, the film "will also be available on Digital HD January 28, two weeks prior to the Blu-ray Combo Pack and DVD release[.]"

Check out the announcement video below featuring chats with Gavin Hood, Harrison Ford, and Viola Davis, and producers Gigi Pritzker, Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman. as well as loads of footage (and spoilers!) from the film and production process:


February 11th will also see the film's debut on Pay-Per-View and Video on Demand.

From the release:

The Blu-ray Combo Pack bonus materials include an exclusive 45-minute "making of" featurette called "Ender's World: The Making of Ender's Game." Both the Blu-ray Combo Pack and DVD special features include deleted and extended scenes with optional audio commentary with director Gavin Hood as well as a feature-length audio commentary with producers. The Ender's Game Blu-ray Combo Pack and DVD will be available for the suggested retail price of $39.99 and $29.95, respectively.

BLU-RAY/DVD SPECIAL FEATURES*

-- "Ender's World: The Making of Ender's Game" 8-part featurette (Blu-ray exclusive)
-- Deleted/Extended Scenes with Audio Commentary with Director Gavin Hood
-- Audio Commentary with Producers Gigi Pritzker and Bob Orci

57 days to go. :)

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"Ender's Game" Trading Cards -- Signers Announced!

While the board game is out, we haven't heard much about the Ender's Game trading card set being released soon by Cryptozoic. But yesterday the company released a list of those Ender actors who have definitely signed for an autograph card -- and it looks like most want to join in on the fun!

Asa Butterfield as Ender Wiggin
Harrison Ford as Colonel Graff
Brandon Soo Hoo as Fly Molo
Aramis Knight as Bean
Khylin Rhambo as Dink Meeker
Conor Carroll as Bernard
Suraj Partha as Alai
Nonso Anozie as Sergeant Dap
Jimmy 'Jax' Pinchak as Peter Wiggin
Andrea Powell as Theresa Wiggin
Caleb J. Thaggard as Stilson
Han Soto as Colonel Graff's aide


This doesn't appear to be a comprehensive list as they stated these are the names they've released "so far." We'll keep you updated with any developments!

The trading card set will also include wardrobe/costume cards which show off the film's great costume patches; Cryptozoic gave us a sneak peak at the included Oversized Patch Cards which you'll find below:

Make sure to check out Cryptozoic on Facebook to stay up-to-date on trading card developments!

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Ender's Game Red Carpet Interview: Aramis Knight & Khylin Rhambo

It's always a good time talking to Bean actor Aramis Knight and were pleased when we had a chance to speak with him this past Monday on the red carpet. We had scared him a bit with the threat of a live pop quiz after his hilarious appearance on EnderCast but we're not that mean.



Here is the ICEE reference for those who missed Asa's appearance on our podcast as well.

Khylin Rhambo (Dink Meeker) also stopped by for a quick chat and told us about his favorite scene -- which, if you watch all the videos, you'll find seems to be everyone's favorite scene.



You'll know it when you see it. ;)

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$28 Million Opening Weekend for Ender's Game

Ender's Game won the U.S. box office this weekend with an estimated $28 million in ticket sales from 3,407 theaters. While this is a solid start for the movie - and better than feared - the numbers pale in comparison with similar big-budget sci-fi starts in 2013. Ender's opening weekend was way off from Pacific Rim and Oblivion (both over $37 million), and was about on par with After Earth ($27.5 million).

The $110 million budget film will have to hold strong for a few weeks and play well in Europe to find financial success, which would support additional sequels. Unfortuately it doesn't look that way at the moment. Ender's Game opened very weak in the two biggest markets in Europe, with just $1.87 million in the United Kingdom (opened 5th place last weekend) and $800,000 in Germany where it opened 6th place.

To put these numbers in perspective: Thor: The Dark World, which opens in the U.S. on Friday and will be tough direct competition for Ender's Game, turned in about $110 million internationally last week, opened in the U.K. with $13.4 million and brought in $7.9 million from Germany - on the opening weekend. It is hard to imagine Thor not crushing Ender's numbers and marginalizing its audience this coming weekend in the US. And with The Hunger Games: Catching Fire opening later this month it will be really tough for Ender's Game to show a strong hold with the general audience.

It looks like a decision on possible Ender's Game sequels won't be made before early next year when the movie opens in the world's second and third biggest markets, China and Japan.

The most positive takeaway from the opening weekend is that the audience generally likes the film. The audience score at Rotten Tomatoes climbed from 76% on Saturday (47,869 users) to 78% this morning (53,478 users). Similar at IMDb where the audience rates the film a 7.2 (9,064 votes) now, up from 7.0 (3,438 votes) on Saturday. The Ender News Review-O-Meter is tracking 187 English-language reviews for an average critics score of 68%, which is also pretty decent for the sci-fi genre.

So why is the movie not getting better, bigger numbers at the box office? As I wrote about two weeks ago on this blog, it was my concern that "the most avid group of moviegoers in the U.S., teenagers and young adults age 12 to 24, could have been addressed much better by promoting the young cast beyond what has been done so far," and if we look a bit deeper into the reported numbers, it looks like my concerns were warranted.

According to distributor Lionsgate/Summit, the movie's audience was 58 percent male and 54 percent over the age of 25. Ender's Game did not create much of a buzz with a young audience beyond those familiar with the original story. When we challenged the studio to "make a wide-release Ender's Game trailer with no adults. It's a story about kids, after all," it was for a good reason.

Box Office Mojo summed it up nicely today:

Marketing emphasized Harrison Ford's gruff military commander while failing to show what it is about Ender that makes him worth rooting for. This kept the movie from really connecting with those who aren't familiar with the source material, which is the key to success in the adaptation game.

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Win Limited Edition Art and Props from the Film!

MovieTickets.com is running a super exciting sweepstakes where one lucky Launchie can win framed Battle School production artwork, signed by the artist, as well as framed Battle School army badges.

Click here to enter - and here to check out all the rules.

You have to have an account with MovieTickets.com to enter, as well as be a resident of the continental US, unfortunately excluding Alaska, Hawaii, Rhode Island, Guam, Puerto Rico, and all other U.S. territories and possessions -- why Rhode Island, I have no idea.

Contest ends November 11th and the winner will be notified on or around that date.

Good luck, Launchies!

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Ender's Game Review: A Beautiful, Moving Adaptation

Gavin Hood is a true fan. He filmed an unfilmable story and he did it very, very well.

As you all probably know, I've been following this movie since principal production began in New Orleans. I visited the set in May of 2012 and left completely convinced that I had no reason to worry; Ender's story was in the hands of a group of fans and I believed there was no way I'd be disappointed come November. The closer we got to release, though, the more I began to contemplate what I would write on Ender News if I disliked it. Would I need to remain positive? Fudge the truth or be completely honest?

Fortunately I don't have to make that decision.

Crystal from EnderWiggin.net, Asa Butterfield (Ender), and Kelly (me!) from Ender News

I loved this film. I found it to be a beautiful, moving adaptation with the heart of the story and most of the key plot points preserved. It was entertaining, emotional, and the twist was done so well that even I -- who knew what was coming -- inhaled sharply when all was revealed.

First off, Asa Butterfield makes a moving, authentic Ender. I never doubted that he would be a convincing child genius but, as a smaller-framed actor, I was slightly afraid that he wouldn't be able to pull off that Peter-esque aggressive streak. However, he manages -- and very convincingly. And since the movie was filmed mostly in chronological order, you can definitely see him age and grow as time in the film passes which adds to his performance. He was vulnerable, he was intense, he was Ender. Butterfield absolutely killed it.

And then, the visuals: altogether it is a stunning visual experience. Garrett Warren's take on weightlessness is not only believable, but beautiful as well. While there are more Battle Room scenes than I actually thought we would get, you can't help but sigh when Ender heads back to Earth, knowing our time in null-g is over. The Command School training scenes are also impressive; everyone needs to see this film in IMAX just to experience Ender's first go at the simulator. When he raises his arms to pull his fleet forward, your heart will skip a beat.

Eros display at the premiere after-party

One thing that surprised me the most is that a great deal of the first half of the movie is surprisingly funny. Aramis Knight (Bean) quips a particular one-liner that had the entire audience roaring and he displays a sort of sure-footed cockiness in the film that suited his character very well. Moises Arias, too, garnered lots of laughs: while I never pictured Bonzo as AMUSING, the character is handled well. He's believable, albeit a little bit ridiculous, and a mere look from Fly Molo (Brandon Soo Hoo) or Petra (Hailee Steinfeld) tell us they feel so as well. Before Monday, I agreed with those who believed he was miscast but I was wrong; he ended up being one of my favorite parts of the film.

It's true that the story rockets along at an almost neck-breaking pace, and that this is what might make many plot points lost on members of the audience who haven't read the book. It also prevents any real character development apart from Ender and thus it's never really clear that those Battle School kids who make it all the way to Command School are the ones Ender trusts most -- except perhaps Petra.

However, I think my one real complaint is that while Jimmy Jax Pinchak was convincing in the very brief time we spend with him, his character in the film is a beautiful bully and nothing more: we are given no evidence that Peter is anything besides jealous and a bit unhinged. When we spoke to Gavin Hood at the set visit, he assured us Peter's better qualities would be displayed at some point in the film and his motivations would become clear; however, we see none of the "tough love" the director spoke of. While it seems likely this was a decision made in the editing room, it was a decision that cut Peter and perhaps any possible sequel off at the knees.

But book-to-movie adaptations are hard and these decisions have to be made. I've been an avid reader since well before kindergarten when I figured out those squiggly lines were letters which turned into stories which could one day hit the big screen. I knew there was always a chance that something could be lost in translation. But this one of the best adaptations I've seen in a while and I am immensely grateful to Gavin Hood, the producers, and the cast for coming together to create something that stayed true to the spirit of Ender's Game.

It's been a wild ride these past two years but the end result was utterly worth it.

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Ender's Game Red Carpet Interview: Sir Ben Kingsley (Video)

One of the highlights of the evening! Sir Ben Kingsley stopped to chat with us about the film, his tattoos, and possible sequels. ;)

Sorry about the wobbly vid -- the camera became understandably a little overwhelmed.

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Ender's Game Red Carpet Interview: Gavin Hood (Video)

It is just always such a pleasure to talk to this man. His excitement for this project knows no bounds and I am honored to have met him.

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Countdown: 1 Day to Go | Or TONIGHT

You've watched through our eyes, you've listened through our ears, and we tell you: THIS IS THE ONE!

Happy Halloween, guys. We hope you love it as much as we did! :)

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Ender's Game: A Journey of Passion From Book to Big Screen

We have said over and over that Ender's Game is a project which was borne out of a love of Ender's story and yesterday Grantland's Matt Patches published a riveting piece on how very true that is. In his article, he follows the adaptations long journey to Hollywood, a journey he calls a "rare Hollywood miracle."

And he's right: Ender's Game has been considered a completely unfilmable film since the book's publication in 1985, even by Orson Scott Card himself. But that doesn't mean many studios and producers haven't tried: the article gives a detailed explanation of the various attempts to to get Ender on the big screen and it is an exhausting list. It's no wonder Card was frustrated!

Thankfully, long-time fans of the book like Lynn Hendee were determined:

"I've always thought it was going to take years to get this movie made because it's going to take the fans of the book who read it in their wonder years to grow old enough and be in positions of decision-making," said Lynn Hendee, a producer of Ender's Game who came onboard the project in the mid-'90s. Hendee was right.

And so was Gigi Pritzker!

To the rescue came Gigi Pritzker, founder of OddLot Entertainment and a die-hard fan of the novel. Like Hendee, Pritzker's gut told her Ender's Game was a perfect movie waiting to happen. [...]  Pritzker and OddLot set out to find a team that understood the treasured tome. The key was finding a writer-director who could build the movie from the ground up and carry it to the end, their very own Ender. Pritzker found him in Hood, a South African filmmaker who brought his memories of apartheid and life in the military to the project. After a turbulent experience on the ill-fated X-Men Origins: Wolverine, where multiple writers tinkered with the script on a daily basis in the middle of shooting, Hood craved the immersion required for Ender's Game. He had a vision: a script that would allow a preteen actor to engage with challenging, emotionally raw material. That was all Pritzker needed to hear.

Hendee then found writer-turned-producer Bob Orci, another long-term fan of the book, who played an important role in the adaptation process:

Orci became the movie's Card proxy — a devout fan without a preservationist instinct. When the team felt it couldn't make changes to aspects of the book, Orci would say, "Sure we can — I'm the guy who blew up Vulcan! I know what we can do and can't do."

The rest of the article details the early-stages of development -- where did the money come from? -- as well as casting and the production choices. It really is quite a read; afterward I had a whole new appreciation for the incredible film I saw Monday night in LA.

And soon you will all have seen it too as Ender's Game hits US theaters today. It is also Halloween, so I shall don my Dragon Army flight suit this evening and pass out candy to all the future Launchies. I could even throw in some Comic-Con army badges to mix things up - maybe even catch a midnight showing! I'm not sure many people could have imagined such a scenario a few years ago, but I am immensely grateful that there were some who did.

"You have to be insanely optimistic all the time when you're passionate about something," Hendee said of her lengthy journey through the darkest depths of Hollywood's creative development process. "You have to believe it's going to happen. The character's story of Ender's Game moved me so much. I believe that such a wonderful story about character … there had to be a way to get that onscreen."

And she was right: Ender's Game hits US theaters tonight!

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