Having had some success adapting books into such mega-franchises as Twilight and The Hunger Games, Team Summit/Lionsgate (and, this time) Odd Lot Entertainment is banking on Ender’s Game to deliver on the sci-fi front. The first trailer for the movie is now online.
Taken from Orson Scott Card’s novel, Ender’s Game is set in a future where Earth has come under attack from an insectoid race known as the Formics (or, colloquially, "Buggers").
With the battle barely won the last time, humanity prepares for the next wave of invasion forces by gathering up the world’s most promising children and putting them through a challenging training regime to see which of them might become great commanders of the future.
Asa Butterfield’s Andrew 'Ender' Wiggin is one of the kids who show real aptitude for warfare, with Ender proving to be a tactical genius. But at what personal cost to him and his family? And how ethical is it for the likes of Colonel Hyram Graff (Harrison Ford) and Mazer Rackham (Ben Kingsley) to treat their raw recruits like canon fodder, even if it’s in the cause of trying to save the world?
It’s tough to tell how well writer/director Gavin Hood and his team have tackled the complicated story from this first trailer, but it certainly seems evocative in its portrayal of the battle simulations.
With Viola Davis, Hailee Steinfeld, Abigail Breslin and Moises Arias also in the cast, Ender’s Game is out on October 25.