Just last week, word broke that X-Men Origins: Wolverine director Gavin Hood had offered the lead role in **Ender’s Game to Hugo star Asa Butterfield. Now comes the news (via Butterfied’s own Twitter feed) that he’s locked in a deal for the movie. But buried within Variety’s report on the casting is a mention of Harrison Ford being considered as a possible co-star.
According to the trade mag, the hunt is on for someone to play Colonel Hyrum Graff, the man in charge of training the prodigious tykes who will lead a fighting force to help mankind battle an insect-like race.
Viggo Mortensen was apparently the first choice, but he wasn’t able to make a deal, so now the focus is on Ford. He’s just a name in discussion right now, however – formal talks haven’t kicked off yet. Plus, he may not want to tackle another big budget sci-fi adventure after Cowboys & Aliens disappointed at the box office this year.
Whoever ends up taking on the Graff role, he’ll deal with Butterfield’s Ender Wiggin, a talented gamer who ends up proving he’s got real world tactical skill during training. We can't help thinking that Ford would make a better Mazer Rackham than a Graff - in the book, Rackham is the General who previously drove off the alien menace, and who the youngsters are being groomed to replace - but it's possible that the script rolls both roles into one, in which case, carry on Mr Hood.
With Hood writing and directing the film, it’s due out here on March 29, 2013.