8) Ender’s Game
Central Cast: Harrison Ford, Asa Butterfield, Hailee Steinfield
Budget: $110 Million
Release Date: October 25th (UK) November 1st (US)
Directed By: Gavin Hood
The Pitch: Based on a novel of the same name, Ender’s Game is set in a futuristic society 80 years from now where children are picked from their earthly homes and shipped to a remote space station to fight aliens in zero gravity – kind of like The Hunger Games, you might say, only in space. At the centre of the galactic stage are Hugo’s Asa Butterfield and True Grit’s Hailee Steinfield, who will take up the roles of Ender and Petra Arkanian for the movie. Though Ender’s Game has a massive scope, the main segment of the narrative will focus on Ender’s character and his turbulent journey through the interstellar battle station led by Harrison Ford’s rugged Colonel Hyrum Graff.
The Verdict: Coming off the back of their triumphant The Hunger Games last year, Lionsgate wasted no time in dipping their creative tentacles back into the young adult demographic. What’s interesting, though, is that Summit Entertainment – a subsidiary of Lionsgate – pushed Ender’s Game back eight whole months, subsequently dumping it within a three week window of The Hunger Games’ sequel, Catching Fire. That’s right, come November, fans of YA fiction will have two full fledged feature films that have been adapted from literary novels.
Leaving Katniss’ earthbound franchise aside, however, South African director Gavin Hood has promised kinetic, fast-paced action sequences for his cinematic depiction of Orson Scott Card’s novel. The book itself has enjoyed notable success since its original publication in 1985, boasting awards in the vein of The Nebula Award and The Hugo Award in the year it was published.
Adding dramatic clout to the line-up is Hollywood icon Harrison Ford, who is said to play a world-weary and ruthless colonel for the role of Hyrum Graff. Plus, with Butterfield and Steinfield showing their acting promise in their breakout films, Ender’s Game could well be the movie that puts them on Hollywood’s map. Given the success of the source material, you can certainly see why Lionsgate are claiming that Ender’s Gamewill be the next big young adult sci-fi franchise. However, as cinematic adaptations like The Chronicles of Naria prove, emulating the success of other mediums is a tricky butterfly to pin. Only time will tell whether Ender’s Game garners a positive reception from the younger audience.
Hype-O-Meter: 7/10
Out of the list of films, which one are you looking forward to the most? Will 2013 see science fiction films compete alongside blockbusters like Man of Steel for the lion’s share of the box office? Let us know in the comments below!