70 years after a horrific alien war, an unusually gifted child is sent to an advanced military school in space to prepare for a future invasion.
After many years of slogging through production hell, the first trailer for Ender’s Game, the adaptation of the novel of the same name by Orson Scott Card, has finally arrived. And y’know, I wish I could say I was more excited. I’ve never read the book, and I hear that it’s great, but Orson Scott Card is kind of a dickhead, and watching this trailer I feel as though this movie might have been more relevant closer to the time of the book’s publication all of 28 years ago. Still, I can’t deny that there’s a cast full of talent here – just take a look at the number of Academy Award wins and nominations that are mentioned – but the director Gavin Hood doesn’t have the greatest track record. In fact, his previous film before Ender’s Game was none other than the atrocious X-Men Origins: Wolverine – the film that nearly killed the whole X-Men franchise. I guess it remains to be seen if this will be any good, but I’m getting a strong John Carter vibe from it. Keep in mind that I liked John Carter, but a sci-fi novel with a big fanbase finally getting a long overdue movie adaptation? There are some definite similarities.
Ender’s Game comes out November 1, 2013.