not sure if this has been posted here but its really old.

I hate to be the bearer of more bad news (we already announced that Shazam was dead), but it looks like Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game movie has also been scrapped. The one and only time that we mentioned this before was back in April of last year, where we reported that Wolfgang Petersen (of The Perfect Storm, Troy, Poseidon) had left the project. An update on the whole adaptation situation has arrived today courtesy of LA Times. Orson Scott Card himself spoke with the newspaper recently in promotion of his newest novel, a direct sequel to "Ender's Game" titled "Ender in Exile", which first hit bookshelves last November.

Apparently Orson Scott Card is intricately involved in the development process, as any good author should be. In regards to the version that Wolfgang Petersen was attached to direct at Warner Brothers, it was scrapped in November because "Card did not feel comfortable with the movie's direction." He told the LA Times that "he was not interested in a 'tough-hero action film' and refuses to condescend to green-screen Hollywood." In turn, he imagines a "film where the human relationships are absolutely essential — an honest presentation of the story." I don't think anyone is opposed to that, especially fans of the book.

The problem is that the story is about child geniuses who are bred to be soldiers. It's the "tale of a boy struggling to grow up into someone he can respect while living in an environment stripped of choices." As brilliant as this is to read, it's not exactly the kind of story that would be perfect for the big screen, especially considering most child actors aren't exactly smart enough to fit the character. Card eventually wants "Ender's Game" to be adapted, but only as long as it's done right. Same here, Mr. Card, same here. Is it ironic that my copy of the "Ender's Game" book just arrived tonight? Time to settle in for a good read.

7/22/2009 10:37:48 PM

good. he probably wanted to push some hardcore mormon shit into it

7/22/2009 10:41:37 PM

may be a hardcore mormon, but still a goddang genius with the writing scifi thing.

7/23/2009 6:58:22 AM

I wasn't all that impressed with the book. Maybe that's because I knew the 'punchline' before even sitting down to read the first page? Either way I can see how it wouldn't be the easiest book to adapt to film. It seems like they'd have to add a lot of filler to pad it out to feature length film anyway, as the entire story could be told in a 30 minute TV episode.

7/23/2009 8:13:50 AM

When did you read it?

If you read it when you were younger like most of us, then you probably would have really enjoyed it.

7/23/2009 8:15:40 AM

Oh, maybe that's it then. I think I was 27.

7/23/2009 8:24:04 AM

card has been over-protective of this story for close to twenty years now it seems. there has been story after story of him not accepting scripts. most good movie adaptations have a good screenwriter and director. and the author stays far, far away. books and movies are not the same thing.

7/23/2009 8:59:07 AM

i agree that card has always seemed overly protective...not all writers are screenwriters and don't quite understand that a "true" representation isn't always feasible

that said, the book is short and is heavy on character development, to the point that getting child actors (even if they made them a bit older), let alone ENOUGH child actors to play the roles would have been difficult

i'm both sad and glad it was scrapped...card should probably loosen up a bit, but at the same time, there's no way a movie would have done the book justice

[Edited on July 23, 2009 at 9:11 AM. Reason : .]

7/23/2009 9:10:40 AM

I read ender's game at about 23 or 24 and still like it, but Card is a fruit.

7/23/2009 10:06:46 AM

I agree with the OP.

If EG was to be made into a movie, it would not be an "action-thriller". It would probably be more aligned with a Romance, but not necessarily have a "love interest". The book is about the internal struggles of a child who is wise beyond his years being trained and developed into a war machine.

Ender knows what Graff, the IF, and Battle School is doing to him and with him, but he doesn't like it.

I do not think it will translate to the big screen unless it is not seen as an action movie. Actually it is about as far from an action flick as one can get (with the exception of probably two scenes).

I see lots of parallels between EG and Forrest Gump. It is the same premise with a different setting.

7/23/2009 10:26:34 AM

Quote :

"may be a hardcore mormon, but still a goddang genius with the writing scifi thing."

as long as he's writing about children. If you've ever read any of his books about adults, they pretty much all suck.

7/23/2009 11:07:26 AM

nah, not suck, very very different than the others yes.

7/23/2009 11:56:25 AM

my favorite orson scott card book was pastwatch: rise of christopher columbus and it was about adults. i also like his alvin maker series. but i haven't read any of that stuff in probably ten years. most of it isn't really for adults it doesn't seem.

7/23/2009 2:42:51 PM

then they should just make it into anime

7/23/2009 9:21:33 PM

Quote :

"my favorite orson scott card book was pastwatch: rise of christopher columbus"

Ugh, I hated that book. First time I tried to read it I couldn't get past the first few chapters. I think he has recently, or is going to, make it into a series of books. His best, imo, is one of his earliest books Treason.

Glad he stuck to his guns and wouldn't let them back Ender another Transformers. If it is done, it should be done right.

7/23/2009 10:07:35 PM

They've been talking about this movie for so long that Haley Joel Osment was rumored to be up for the lead at one point.

There hasn't been as good of a male child actor since then so I don't see how they could possibly do it.

Maybe as an animated film?

I just can't imagine how hard it would be to cast Bean.

(btw, the Shadow series >>>> Ender)

7/24/2009 2:56:46 AM