Ender's Game (film)

Ender's Game
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Gavin Hood
Produced by	Gigi Pritzker Linda McDonough Alex Kurtzman Roberto Orci Robert Chartoff Lynn Hendee Orson Scott Card Ed Ulbrich
Screenplay by	Gavin Hood
Based on	Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
Starring	Harrison Ford Asa Butterfield Hailee Steinfeld Viola Davis Abigail Breslin Ben Kingsley
Music by	Steve Jablonsky
Cinematography	Donald McAlpine
Edited by	Zach Staenberg Lee Smith
Production company	Chartoff Productions Taleswapper OddLot Entertainment K/O Paper Products Digital Domain
Distributed by	Summit Entertainment Lionsgate Films
Release dates	October 24, 2013 (2013-10-24) (Germany) November 1, 2013 (2013-11-01) (United States)
Running time	114 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$110 million
Box office	$125.5 million

Ender's Game is a 2013 American science fiction action film based on the novel of the same name by Orson Scott Card. Written and directed by Gavin Hood, the film stars Asa Butterfield as Andrew "Ender" Wiggin, an unusually gifted child who is sent to an advanced military academy in outer space to prepare for a future alien invasion. The supporting cast includes Harrison Ford, Hailee Steinfeld, Viola Davis, Abigail Breslin, and Ben Kingsley.

The film was released in Germany on October 24, 2013, followed by a release in the United Kingdom and Ireland one day later. It was released in the United States, Canada, and several other countries on November 1, 2013, and was released in other territories by January 2014. Ender's Game received mixed reviews from film critics and it earned $125.5 million on a $110 million budget.

Plot

In the future, humanity is preparing to launch an attack on the homeworld of an alien race called the Formics who had attacked Earth and killed millions. Over the course of fifty years, gifted children are trained by the International Fleet to become commanders of a new fleet for this counter-attack.

Cadet Andrew "Ender" Wiggin draws the attention of Colonel Hyrum Graff and Major Gwen Anderson by his aptitude in simulated space combat. They order the removal of his monitor, signifying the end of the cadet program. Ender is attacked by Stilson, a student he defeated in the combat sim, but Ender fights back and severely injures him. Ender confesses his grief to his older sister Valentine, but is harassed further by their older brother Peter. Graff arrives to reveal he was being tested and is still part of the program. Graff brings Ender to Battle School, placing Ender with other cadets his age, but treats him as extraordinary, ostracizing him from the others.

Among other studies, the cadets are placed in squads and perform training games in a zero gravity "Battle Room". Ender quickly adapts to the games, devising new strategies older students have not yet seen. Graff reassigns Ender to Salamander Army, led by Commander Bonzo Madrid. Bonzo is resentful of the new addition and prevents Ender from training. Another cadet, Petra Arkanian, takes Ender and trains him privately. In one match, Ender goes against Bonzo's orders and works with Petra to achieve a key victory for his army.

Meanwhile, Ender plays a computerized "mind game" set in a fantasy world aimed to present difficult choices to the player. In one situation, Ender creates an outside the box solution to overcome a seemingly unsolvable problem. Later, he encounters a Formic in the game, and then a simulated image of Valentine entering the ruins of a castle. Inside, he finds another image of Valentine but as he nears, it turns into an image of Peter before the game ends.

Graff promotes Ender to his own squad, made from other students that have gained Ender's trust. They are put in increasingly difficult battles. In one match against two other teams including Bonzo's squad, Ender devises a novel strategy of sacrificing part of his team to achieve a goal, impressing Graff. Bonzo accosts Ender in the bathroom after the match, but Ender fights back and paralyzes him. Distraught over this, Ender prepares to quit Battle School, but Graff has Valentine speak to him and convince him to continue.

Graff takes Ender to humanity's forward base on a former Formic planet near their homeworld. There, Ender meets Mazer Rackham, who explains how he spotted the shared-mind nature of the Formics to stop the attack fifty years prior. Ender finds that his former squad members are also here to help him train in computerized simulations of large fleet combat; Rackham puts special emphasis on the fleet's Molecular Detachment (MD) Device that is capable of disintegrating matter. Ender's training is rigorous and Anderson expresses concern they are pushing Ender too fast, but Graff notes they have run out of time to replace Ender.

Ender's final test is monitored by several of the fleet commanders. As the simulation starts, Ender finds his fleet over the Formic homeworld and vastly outnumbered. He orders most of his fleet to sacrifice themselves to protect the MD long enough to fire on the homeworld. The simulation ends, and Ender believes the test is over, but the commanders restart the video screens, showing that the destruction of the Formic homeworld was real and Ender had been controlling the real fleet this time. Despite Graff's assurance he will be known as a hero, Ender is furious as he feels responsible for the annihilation and everyone will remember him as a killer.

As Ender struggles with his emotions, he recognizes one of the Formic structures nearby similar to the ruined castle from the game, and believing they were trying to communicate with him, races out towards it. He follows the path set by the game, and encounters a dying Formic queen who has been protecting another queen egg. The Formics regret their original attack on Earth and had never intended to continue the war. The Queen acknowledges that while Ender carried out the genocide of her race, he only wanted peace and forgives him.

Ender writes in a letter to Valentine that he is heading to deep space with the egg, determined to colonize a new Formic world with it.

Cast

Further information: List of Ender's Game characters

• Asa Butterfield as Andrew "Ender" Wiggin. In a 1999 interview, Orson Scott Card confirmed that Jake Lloyd was under consideration for the role. Card asked fans not to judge Lloyd based on his performance in The Phantom Menace, saying that a better script and direction would result in a better performance. In July 2008, Card stated that he would like to see Nathan Gamble play Ender, and expressed regret that he was "probably too old" for the part.
• Harrison Ford as Colonel Hyrum Graff. Early in the film's development, Card considered changing Graff to a female, and recommended a "dry comic" such as Janeane Garofalo or Rosie O'Donnell for the role.
• Ben Kingsley as Mazer Rackham, a war hero whose father was Maori. Kingsley spent over an hour in makeup to have Tā moko tattoos applied. Mazer tells Ender they allow him to "speak for the dead", a nod to the book's sequel, Speaker for the Dead. In a 1998 interview, Card suggested Andre Braugher or Will Smith for the role.
  • Kyle Russell Clements as Young Mazer Rackham
• Hailee Steinfeld as Petra Arkanian
• Abigail Breslin as Valentine Wiggin
• Viola Davis as Major Gwen Anderson, a psychologist who oversees the Battle School students.
• Aramis Knight as Bean
• Suraj Parthasarathy as Alai
• Moisés Arias as Bonzo
• Khylin Rhambo as Dink
• Conor Carroll as Bernard
• Nonso Anozie as Sergeant Dap
• Jimmy Pinchak as Peter Wiggin
• Stevie Ray Dallimore as John Paul Wiggin
• Andrea Powell as Theresa Wiggin
• Caleb J. Thaggard as Stilson. Brendan Meyer was originally cast in the role, but had to leave the production due to a scheduling conflict.
• Jasmine Kaur as Professor
• Tony Mirrcandani as Admiral Chamrajnagar
• Brandon Soo Hoo as Fly Molo - In the film, Fly Molo slips and injures himself. Petra is assigned to join Dragon Army as a substitute.
• Cameron Gaskins as Pol Slattery, a member in Leopard Army
• Orson Scott Card as Pilot (voice cameo)
• Gavin Hood as Giant (voice and motion-capture performance cameo)

Production

Development

Since Ender's Game was published in 1985, author Orson Scott Card had been reluctant to license film rights and artistic control for the novel. Card explained that he had many opportunities through the 1980s and 1990s to sell the rights of Ender's Game to Hollywood studios, but refused when creative differences became an issue. With the formation of Fresco Pictures in 1996 (which Card co-founded), the author decided to write the screenplay himself. In a 1998 interview, Card discussed the process of adapting the novel into a screenplay.

The first decision I made was not to pursue the Peter—Valentine subplot with the Internet, because that's just watching people type things into the computer. The second decision I made was to give that information about the surprise at the end from the start. In my script we know who Mazer Rackham really is and we know what is at stake as Ender plays his games. But Ender doesn't know, so I think the suspense is actually increased because the audience knows we're about the business of saving the world and that everything depends on this child not understanding that. We care all the more about whether he wins—and we worry that he might not want to. As we watch the adults struggle to get control of Ender, we pity him because of what's happening to him, but we want the adults to succeed. I think it makes for a much more complex and fascinating film than it would have been if I had tried to keep secrets.

In 2003, Card submitted a screenplay to Warner Bros., at which time David Benioff and D. B. Weiss were hired to collaborate on a new script in consultation with the then-designated director Wolfgang Petersen. Four years later, Card wrote a new script not based on any previous ones, including his own. In an interview with Wired, Card admitted two obstacles in writing his scripts were being able to "externalize" Ender's thoughts and making it work, "for people who had never read the book."

Card announced in February 2009 that he had completed a script for Odd Lot Entertainment, and that they had begun assembling a production team. In September 2010, it was announced that Gavin Hood was attached to the project, serving as both screenwriter and director. Card said he had written "about six" different scripts before Hood took over. In November 2010, Card stated that the film's storyline would be a fusion of Ender's Game and its parallel novel, Ender's Shadow, focusing on the important elements of both. In October 2013, he explained that this "buddy-movie approach" between Ender and Bean was a proof of concept and once Hood took over he decided to use Petra as more of a major character. On January 28, 2011, it was reported that Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci would be producing the work and would begin presenting the script to prospective investors.

On April 28, 2011, it was announced that Summit Entertainment had picked up the film's distribution and Digital Domain joined Odd Lot Entertainment in a co-production role. Gavin Hood was aboard as director and screenwriter, and Donald McAlpine joined as cinematographer. The producers were Gigi Pritzker and Linda McDonough of Odd Lot Entertainment, Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci of K/O Paper Products, Robert Chartoff and Lynn Hendee of Chartoff Productions, who had worked with Card on the development of the film for over 15 years, Card himself, and Ed Ulbrich. Executive producers included Bill Lischak, David Coatsworth, Ivy Zhong and Deborah Del Prete. In an interview with Brigham Young University newspaper The Universe, Card said that his role as producer was in the early stages and that the screenplay is 100% Hood's. Special effects workshop Amalgamated Dynamics provided the special character effects for the film, with founder Tom Woodruff Jr. providing character suit performances.

Filming

Production began in New Orleans, Louisiana, on February 27, 2012. The film was released on November 1, 2013, in the United States.

Merchandise

Along with various T-shirts, a 2014 wall calendar, and film inspired covers for both the novel and the Ender's Game Ultimate Collection comic collection, Funko released two Pop! Vinyl figurines of Ender Wiggin and Petra Arkanian. Ender's Game is also the first film to offer 3D printed replicas of in-film 3D assets. Summit Entertainment collaborated with Sandboxr, a 3D printing service, to open a new merchandising platform offering fans the unique ability to customize and build 3D prints from assets used in production.

Media

Soundtrack

Ender's Game
Soundtrack album by Steve Jablonsky
Released	October 22, 2013
Length	71:00
Label	Varèse Sarabande
Producer	Steve Jablonsky, Alex Gibson

The original soundtrack for Ender's Game was released on October 22, 2013. The film's score was composed by Steve Jablonsky. Originally, James Horner was announced to compose the film's score, but it turned out that Jablonsky would be doing the score.

Track listing
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Ender's War"	3:27
2.	"Stay Down"	2:42
3.	"Move It Launchies"	0:56
4.	"The Battle Room"	3:03
5.	"Mind Game Part 1"	2:24
6.	"Salamander Battle"	3:34
7.	"Mind Game Part 2"	3:55
8.	"Dragon Army"	2:24
9.	"Dragons Win"	3:53
10.	"Bonzo"	1:37
11.	"Ender Quits"	6:22
12.	"Mazer Rackham"	2:34
13.	"Enemy Planet"	3:50
14.	"Command School"	2:42
15.	"Graduation Day"	1:28
16.	"Final Test"	6:02
17.	"Game Over"	2:36
18.	"The Way We Win Matters"	6:14
19.	"Ender's Promise"	5:09
20.	"Commander"	3:33

The credits roll song was recorded by The Flaming Lips featuring Tobacco, titled "Peace Sword", which was sold separately as an EP.

Ender's Game: Inside the World of an Epic Adventure

Ender's Game: Inside the World of an Epic Adventure

Author	Jed Alger
Genre	Science Fiction
Publisher	Insight Editions
Publication date	October 15, 2013
Media type	Hardcover
Pages	160
ISBN	1608872777

Ender's Game: Inside the World of an Epic Adventure is a reference book published by Insight Editions. With a foreword by Ender's Game film director, Gavin Hood, the book is broken into four parts: Ender's World, Battle School, Inside Zero-G, and Parallel Worlds. The book is filled with behind-the-scenes images of the making of Ender's Game as well as interviews with the producers, artists, directors, and cast. Included with the book are nine Battle School army logo stickers, an ID Badge for Ender, and two removable International Fleet posters.

Board game

Ender's Game Battle School

Designer(s)	Matt Hyra
Publisher(s)	Cryptozoic Entertainment
Players	2
Playing time	30–45 minutes

Ender's Game Battle School is the official board game based on the film Ender's Game. Published on November 13, 2013, by Cryptozoic Entertainment, the game is designed by Matt Hyra. Played inside the Battle Room, the player takes control of an Army led by either Commander Ender Wiggin or Commander Bonzo Madrid. With different abilities granted to each Commander, the Armies try to either capture each of its opponent's Gates or freeze the opposing Commander while avoiding other frozen players and Stars.

Marketing

Screenshot used in web promotions

Ender's Game partnered with Audi to bring the Audi fleet shuttle quattro to the motion picture. The partnership with ICEE included releasing two limited time flavors: Battle School Blastberry and Orbital Orange, along with a "Train Like an Astronaut" sweepstakes. Growing Basics offered a chance to win a trip to the Los Angeles premiere of Ender's Game. The Langers Juice Company gave away an Ender's Game t-shirt with three proof-of-purchase. Barnes & Noble also offered various promotions including novels collected in boxed sets inspired by the film. Pik-Nik offered a chance to win a trip for a family of four to the Kennedy Space Center. Popcorn, Indiana held a sweepstakes to win a private screening for the winner and up to 250 friends. Star Studio also offered photobooth backgrounds from Ender's Game.

Websites

On May 6, 2013, the official movie site for Ender's Game, I.F. Sentinel, launched (I.F. stands for International Fleet, the entity responsible for training the children cadets). Though the site is now filled with short, movie promotional posts, the original site contained new canonical information and characters from the film universe, including archivist Stephen Trawcki, I.F. Major Gerald Stacks, I.F. Academic Secretary Gwen Burton, I.F. Rationing Spokesman Reed Unger, and former Hegemon James van Laake.

On July 17, a recruitment video was released telling users to go to the I.F. Battle School website. Once there, users would be prompted to log onto their Facebook accounts and take a short aptitude test, which when finished would place the user into either Asp, Dragon, Rat, or Salamander Army. Armies would go on to compete against one another in different missions. The first missions involved the users sharing their army assignments on Facebook and Twitter. Doing so unlocked a preview of the film. The second mission had the users compete by once again posting to Facebook and Twitter to try to get their names on a mosaic IMAX poster. The Dragon Army won both missions. The final mission had the users enter sweepstakes from Xbox, IMDb, Yahoo!, and Fandango. There was no winner for the final mission. On September 3, the Battle Room Training game was released on the website. In this game, the user would shoot at different colored stars.

A website called Battle School Command Core opened on September 19, 2013. The website was for those residing in the United Kingdom. The site had six games with a prize for each, including a grand prize trip for two people to NASA.

Controversy

In July 2013, the group Geeks OUT boycotted the film in protest of Orson Scott Card's views on homosexuality and same-sex marriage. The calls for a boycott were picked up by a number of other groups and individuals in the media.

In response to the boycott, Card released a statement in July 2013 to Entertainment Weekly:

Ender's Game is set more than a century in the future and has nothing to do with political issues that did not exist when the book was written in 1984. With the recent Supreme Court ruling, the gay marriage issue becomes moot. The Full Faith and Credit Clause of the Constitution will, sooner or later, give legal force in every state to any marriage contract recognized by any other state. Now it will be interesting to see whether the victorious proponents of gay marriage will show tolerance toward those who disagreed with them when the issue was still in dispute.

Producer Roberto Orci responded in Entertainment Weekly in March that he was not aware of Card's views when he took on development of the film adaptation. He said that "the movie should be judged on its message, not the personal beliefs of the original author", who had minimal involvement in the film. Orci also stated that "if it's on the screen, then I think it's fair game." Lions Gate Entertainment released a statement stating that "we obviously do not agree with the personal views of Orson Scott Card".

Release

This was the last film to be distributed theatrically by Buena Vista International in Japan before the Japanese theatrical brand was renamed Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures International starting with Need for Speed in March 2014.

Box office and Financials

Ender's Game was the number 1 film in North America during its opening weekend, earning $27,017,351 from 3,407 theaters with an average of $7,930 per theater. The film ultimately grossed $61,737,191 domestically and $63,800,000 internationally, for a worldwide gross of $125,537,191, slightly above its $110 million production budget. In February 2014, in an interview with Forbes magazine, director Hood claimed that the film performed quite moderately as a financial vehicle, having been financed with a $110-million investment which garnered a $112-million return. By April 2014, the movie had earned $125 million, according to Box Office Mojo.

Critical response

Ender's Game received mixed reviews from film critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, a Review aggregator, the film has a score of 60% based on 196 reviews, with an average rating of 6 out of 10. The critical consensus states: "If it isn't quite as thought-provoking as the book, Ender's Game still manages to offer a commendable number of well-acted, solidly written sci-fi thrills." On Metacritic, the film has a score of 51 out of 100 based on 39 critics indicating "mixed or average reviews".

Home media

On February 11, 2014, Ender's Game was released on DVD, Blu-ray, VOD, and PPV, with an early Digital HD window beginning January 28. The DVD includes deleted / extended scenes with optional audio commentary with Director Gavin Hood and audio commentary for the film with Producers Gigi Pritzker and Bob Orci. The Blu-ray also includes an 8-part featurette called "Ender's World: The Making of Ender's Game" and a featurette called "Inside the Mind Game".

Sequel

Originally, there was discussion of a franchise and the director's plan was to film a sequel movie at the same time as Ender's Game based on the sequel book, Speaker for the Dead. One cast member claimed the script for Ender's Shadow exists, concurrent with the events of Ender's Game. The film plans changed as the child actors became older. Instead, the sequel plans were changed to involve Orson Scott Card's upcoming series about the aftermath of the fleet school. This was being considered for either a movie sequel or a television series depending on the success of the first film. However, one industry analyst has stated his belief that the weak box office opening means that a sequel is unlikely.

See also

• List of films featuring space stations
• List of theatrically released Lionsgate films

External links

Official media sites

• Official website

Movie databases

• Ender's Game at IMDb
• Ender's Game at AllMovie
• Ender's Game at Box Office Mojo
• Ender's Game at Metacritic
• Ender's Game at Rotten Tomatoes

Other links