Han Solo Joins Ender's Game Cast

[2012 Wont Happen]

My rational response to this is to say that Ford is, while not the greatest actor, an actor that will probably do the best possible job as the character for which he has been cast.

Spoiler: irrational response

FUCK YES FUCK YES FUCK YES FUCK YES FUCK YES FUCK YES FUCK YES FUCK YES FUCK YES FUCK YES FUCK YES FUCK YES FUCK YES FUCK YES FUCK YES FUCK YES FUCK YES FUCK YES FUCK YES FUCK YES FUCK YES FUCK YES FUCK YES FUCK YES FUCK YES FUCK YES FUCK YES FUCK YES FUCK YES FUCK YES FUCK YES FUCK YES FUCK YES FUCK YES FUCK YES FUCK YES FUCK YES FUCK YES FUCK YES FUCK YES FUCK YES FUCK YES FUCK YES FUCK YES FUCK YES FUCK YES FUCK YES FUCK YES FUCK YES FUCK YES FUCK YES FUCK YES FUCK YES FUCK YES FUCK YES FUCK YES FUCK YES FUCK YES FUCK YES FUCK YES FUCK YES FUCK YES FUCK YES FUCK YES FUCK YES FUCK YES FUCK YES FUCK YES FUCK YES FUCK YES FUCK YES FUCK YES FUCK YES FUCK YES FUCK YES FUCK YES FUCK YES FUCK YES FUCK YES FUCK YES FUCK YES FUCK YES FUCK YES FUCK YES FUCK YES FUCK YES FUCK YES FUCK YES FUCK YES FUCK YES FUCK YES FUCK YES FUCK YES FUCK YES FUCK YES FUCK YES FUCK YES FUCK YES FUCK YES FUCK YES FUCK YES FUCK YES FUCK YES FUCK YES FUCK YES FUCK YES FUCK YES FUCK YES FUCK YES FUCK YES FUCK YES 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[BonGookKumBop]

Too bad all the sequels Card wrote were awful.

Technically, Ender's Game was a prequel. Card started writing Speaker for the Dead first and decided to use a character from a novelette he had written years before about a boy in battle school. He figured he needed to flesh out the character more, so he rewrote the novelette as the book Ender's Game.

It's interesting that Card seems to like Speaker more. This is probably due to the fact that it was the book that he intended to write. He is willing to admit, however, that most of his fans like Ender's Game more. As for myself, I think Ender's Game is a better book, but I like Speaker more for the way it explores human relationships. I guess I'm kind of like that though. Homeland is clearly the best book of the Legend of Drizzt series, but I like Exile more.

As for the casting, I think Harrison Ford should be able to play Graff well. He has played a wide range of characters and Graff is practically schizophrenic. In one scene, he has to be cruel and hard and carelessly push Ender to his breaking point; in the next, he has to be caring and hate himself for what he is doing. I wonder if they'll have him put on weight to signify his inner struggle like he did in the book.

Ben Kingsley will make a good Mazer Rackem, but I was hoping they'd actually get a Maori to play the part since the book says he was half Maori.

 

[agiganticpanda]

The director is Gavin Hood who also directed... X-Men Origins: Wolverine.

All is lost.

 

[Nergy]

This better be awesome, they've bottled lightening with that cast.

I am a bit worried the film will be successful and they make movies of the god-awful books that were made afterward. I'll happily cut out my frontal lobe before they make a movie of the convoluted clusterfuck that was Xenocide. Speaker of The Dead MIGHT work, but it is better as written fiction.

Ender's Shadow would be okay, i did like the book but it could have done with a little bit less of Card's views shoved in there.

 

[XSin]

(the other big-name actor is Ben Kingsley as Mazer Rackham)

Permalink

Why would you cast Ben Kingsley for that role? That confused the hell out of me. I don't mind the guy as an actor but he really doesn't seem the right fit for the role.

The character is half Maori, when I read the book I automatically pictured Temuera Morrison. He'd make a perfect grizzled mentor, he actually fits the source material. . . sigh

 

[Varil]

Ender's Game?

I want this movie to be good so bad, but somehow...somehow I just doubt it.

;_;

 

[BehattedWanderer]

An Ender's Game movie? Whoa...that's twelve different kinds of exciting, there. And I'm indifferent to Card not being involved. He wrote a couple of amazing books, fair enough, but some of his personal stances are a bit...off for me. So, tell me, oh seer of stories on the internet--who will be playing Bean?

 

[beefpelican]

There's going to be an Ender Game film? This better be good, it's a fantastic book. The casting of Harrison Ford can only make this better.

Too bad all the sequels Card wrote were awful.

I beg to differ! Ender's Shadow was head and shoulders better than Ender's Game and Speaker For The Dead was a solid book in it's own right.

That being said, the role I'm really curious about is who will be playing Bean. He's just as important, or possibly even more important, than Ender is in the series.

I always liked the Bean books best. Ender as Space Jesus is a fun character, but he goes for the lets all be friends ending all the time.

Spoiler

You commit one xenocide and suddenly you don't want to fight anymore...

Bean has more of a Space Batman thing going on, which is awesome.

I think Ben Kingsley is an awesome pick for Mazer. He's a super versatile actor. And if she repeats her performance from True Grit Hailee Steinfeld will be an excellent Petra. I'm kinda worried about Harrison Ford though. Having seen him in Indie 4 and Cowboys vs. Aliens I've lost some of my faith in him.

 

[Jingle Fett]

Damn, that's a hell of a cast, they're really good picks. They're all pretty close to how I imagined them in the books too.

Asa Butterfield...that's the kid from Hugo, right? I approve of him big time; while watching the trailers for Hugo, one of my first thoughts actually was that he'd be a great Ender. And then it happened, yay!
The girl from True Grit is also a great pick, I think she'll do well as Petra.
Harrison Ford might not have been my first pick for Graff but I think he fits the role very well...Kingsley sort of close to what I imagined for Rackham, I think he'll do a good job.

The movie seems to be off to a good start (cautious optimism)



But what about Bean?????? Who is playing Bean???? I must know, I must!

 

[GamerKT]

PEOPLE!

From i09.com:

Harrison Ford has reportedly been cast as Colonel Hyram Graff, who is in charge of training Ender Wiggin and the rest of the recruits. Abigail Breslin of Little Miss Sunshine and Zombieland fame has reportedly signed on as Ender's older sister Valentine Wiggin, and True Grit's Hailee Steinfeld is now all but confirmed as Petra Arkanian, Ender's most trusted ally, which means we're a Chloe Meretz short of this movie featuring every major child actress currently working. The rest of the child cast has reportedly been filled with Rendition's Aramis Knight as *******Bean********, Hannah Montana costar Moises Arias as Bonzo, Let Me In's Jimmy "Jax" Pinchak as Ender's eldest sibling Peter Wiggin, Suraj Parthasarathy, Away We Go actor Conor Carroll as Bernard, and Khylin Rhambo as Dink.

Bean is Aramis Knight.

Also, from Wiki, for convenience:

Asa Butterfield ? Ender Wiggin
Hailee Steinfeld ? Petra Arkanian
Brendan Meyer ? Stilson
Harrison Ford ? Colonel Hyrum Graff
Abigail Breslin ? Valentine Wiggin
Aramis Knight ? Bean
Moises Arias ? Bonzo
Jimmy Pinchak ? Peter Wiggin
Suraj Parthasarathy ?Alai
Conor Carroll ? Bernard
Khylin Rhambo ? Dink
Ben Kingsley ? Mazer Rackham

 

[Redlin5_v1legacy]

Please don't mess this one up Hollywood. Just because you have Ford doesn't mean you can slack off.

 

[Sonic Doctor]

They've cast 20somethings as teenagers, i don't see why they couldn't cast a 12 or so actor as Ender.

Many times my brother told me about the happenings of why the movie was taking so long to get a green light, and the age thing was the biggest slow down.

For the longest time, Card wouldn't budge with the age of 9. They had to find 9 year old actors, it was the oldest he would allow. Stupidly, the film company wouldn't budge either, because they thought that such a thing would be impossible. Finally there was some give, when the studio said okay, how about 12, and Card finally agreed, but when they gave him a contract to sign, he looked through it thoroughly and found that there was a clause that said that they could cast a few or all near 18. Card rightfully refused to sign that bull, and then they brought him a new contract, and said not to worry the actors would be 12, no reason not to sign. Then of course not believing the asses, he read the new contract and found that it brought the number down, but not to 12, but 15. Again, he didn't sign and it was basically a stalemate.

That was the last I heard of it, but now it looks like the ass-hats won. If anything, I hope that some how the project gets canned again, and for good, at least until Hollywood gets populated with movie makers that know what's really important when making a book into a movie. I highly doubt that anytime soon, they will understand that the only way a book can properly be made into a movie, is if all major parts of the book are followed to the letter, even non-main character plots(sub-plots) that are major and are needed in their own respects. If anything, they should at least give the author of the story, majority control of what gets put into the movie, even if the producers or director or whoever says it can fit and can't be done. I mean, if you can't make the movie like the book, there is no point in making the movie.

It is because of these things, that in television comedy, a kid watching the movie of the book has never worked and blown up in the kid's face. Hollywood knows jack about what works and is important in literary works.

 

[Phindin]

The Harrison Ford thing is cool enough, but the rest of the cast is pretty awesome, too. That said, it's going to be a difficult book to adapt, so I'm going to be cautiously optimistic about how it all ends up. They'll alter things, of course. I'll probably hate a lot of the things they change, but as long as it stays relatively faithful to the book, then I won't be too upset.

That was the last I heard of it, but now it looks like the ass-hats won. If anything, I hope that some how the project gets canned again, and for good, at least until Hollywood gets populated with movie makers that know what's really important when making a book into a movie. I highly doubt that anytime soon, they will understand that the only way a book can properly be made into a movie, is if all major parts of the book are followed to the letter, even non-main character plots(sub-plots) that are major and are needed in their own respects. If anything, they should at least give the author of the story, majority control of what gets put into the movie, even if the producers or director or whoever says it can fit and can't be done. I mean, if you can't make the movie like the book, there is no point in making the movie.

Really? Ass-hats? I'm afraid to say that Hollywood's probably had the right idea on this issue. The kids in Ender's Game are all very young, but they're still very adult-like. Regardless of what you or Card says, it's not a crime to humanity if they decided to age them up a little. Having Ender and company being a few years older doesn't completely tarnish the essence or themes of the book--it basically means no one has to deal with a bunch of sketchy and/or potentially annoying child actors who are way too young to be playing these characters convincingly. I think that's a decent tradeoff. Also, Ender and company age quite a bit throughout the book. See the problem there, too?

Film is its own medium. You can't condense an entire novel into two hours without altering some things. Movies have a totally different presentation style than novels and other written works, but you're claiming that just because a film doesn't adhere to the original source in every remotely feasible way that it's going to be bad? That's ridiculous. Look at something like Jurassic Park. I assure you that a ton of things were changed from original novel, and it still made for a good movie. I agree that a lot of the time Hollywood screws up, but you're adopting a seriously restricted view on this. Was Alan Rickman a terrible Snape just because he was thirty years older than he was supposed to be? I don't think so.

 

[MintyNinja]

There's going to be an Ender Game film? This better be good, it's a fantastic book. The casting of Harrison Ford can only make this better.

Too bad all the sequels Card wrote were awful.

This is because the "sequels" were a standalone series before he wrote Ender's Game as we know it. He was struggling with his main protagonist and decided to re-use Ender, but while doing this, he had to turn the short story into the novel that we now have. So he got all his practice in first, and then the novel he used for character development becomes the most famous.

As for the Shadow series, it's an entirely different genre and not every writer can write every genre. Although I admit the Shadow books were my favorites.

EDIT: Forgot to mention the news

Now that I can imagine Ford as Graff, there is no other actor (aside from Liam Neeson) I could imagine in that role. And the child actors sound good so far, but the real test will be how they portray Bean, as he is really small.

 

[guitarsniper]

The Harrison Ford thing is cool enough, but the rest of the cast is pretty awesome, too. That said, it's going to be a difficult book to adapt, so I'm going to be cautiously optimistic about how it all ends up. They'll alter things, of course. I'll probably hate a lot of the things they change, but as long as it stays relatively faithful to the book, then I won't be too upset.

That was the last I heard of it, but now it looks like the ass-hats won. If anything, I hope that some how the project gets canned again, and for good, at least until Hollywood gets populated with movie makers that know what's really important when making a book into a movie. I highly doubt that anytime soon, they will understand that the only way a book can properly be made into a movie, is if all major parts of the book are followed to the letter, even non-main character plots(sub-plots) that are major and are needed in their own respects. If anything, they should at least give the author of the story, majority control of what gets put into the movie, even if the producers or director or whoever says it can fit and can't be done. I mean, if you can't make the movie like the book, there is no point in making the movie.

Really? Ass-hats? I'm afraid to say that Hollywood's probably had the right idea on this issue. The kids in Ender's Game are all very young, but they're still very adult-like. Regardless of what you or Card says, it's not a crime to humanity if they decided to age them up a little. Having Ender and company being a few years older doesn't completely tarnish the essence or themes of the book--it basically means no one has to deal with a bunch of sketchy and/or potentially annoying child actors who are way too young to be playing these characters convincingly. I think that's a decent tradeoff. Also, Ender and company age quite a bit throughout the book. See the problem there, too?

Film is its own medium. You can't condense an entire novel into two hours without altering some things. Movies have a totally different presentation style than novels and other written works, but you're claiming that just because a film doesn't adhere to the original source in every remotely feasible way that it's going to be bad? That's ridiculous. Look at something like Jurassic Park. I assure you that a ton of things were changed from original novel, and it still made for a good movie. I agree that a lot of the time Hollywood screws up, but you're adopting a seriously restricted view on this. Was Alan Rickman a terrible Snape just because he was thirty years older than he was supposed to be? I don't think so.

when i saw the "you've been quoted!" thing in my inbox this morning i went back looking to write a response only to see that someone's already said what i basically was going to say, so thanks!

 

[obisean]

I would have put Dennis Haysbert (All-State guy, President from the first few seasons of 24, Lambert from Splinter Cell) as Graff. When I read the books, I always pictured Lambert as Graff. I don't know why, he just really fit the role in my head. Still seems like a better fit than Ford, but I could be wrong.

 

[VectorZero]

Interest raised to cautious optimism. Ford and Kingsley could do a good job, and the two girls at least are very good actors.

On the topic of casting across ethnic backgrounds, they've got an Indian playing a north African Muslim? Interesting...

 

[Avatar Roku]

It makes me wonder how the Honor Harrington Movies project might turn out.

http://forums.davidweber.net/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=2255

Holy shit, how did I not hear about this? Pleeeease get made and don't suck.

Ah, who am I kidding. They could never make a good Honor Harrington movie. A shame.

 

[Croaker42]

Ugh... I love Ford. He has been one of the greatest actors in my experience. But I think his time is up. To watch the man mumble through the last Indiana Jones was painful enough. But he is still a great actor and even with the speech impediment could come close to pulling off the hardass with big heart that was Gaff.