Summit Entertainment has posted the synopsis for its upcoming sci-fi adaptation.
After a few delays, the Ender’s Game is well underway, and the studio has decided to let us all know that it has faithfully adhered to the major plot points of the iconic book, as is illustrated by the official synopsis below:
In the near future, a hostile alien race (called the Formics) have attacked Earth. If not for the legendary heroics of International Fleet Commander, Mazer Rackham (Ben Kingsley), all would have been lost. In preparation for the next attack, the highly esteemed Colonel Graff (Harrison Ford) and the International Military are training only the best young children to find the future Mazer. Ender Wiggin (Asa Butterfield), a shy, but strategically brilliant boy is pulled out of his school to join the elite.
Arriving at Battle School, Ender quickly and easily masters increasingly difficult war games, distinguishing himself and winning respect amongst his peers. Ender is soon ordained by Graff as the military’s next great hope, resulting in his promotion to Command School. Once there, he’s trained by Mazer Rackham, himself, to lead his fellow soldiers into an epic battle that will determine the future of Earth and save the human race.
The three stars are listed in the synopsis, and I have high hopes for Butterfield. His past worrk has shown his to be one of the most talented children in the industry, but the rest of the cast is by necessity filled with mostly untried children, a dangerous proposition for any film, especially one which is not necessarily a children’s story (if they stick to the novel, some of these children are terrible people, and a couple of them get gruesomely murdered).
The two most important other children, Ender’s siblings, are played by Abigale Breslin (Zombieland) and Jimmy Pinckak (Let Me In). The rest of the battle school kids, though, are too young to have done much else – remember these kids are super smart, and dealing with some adult situations, but they are all supposed to be grade school aged. The supporting roles are covered by Aramis Knight , Khylin Rhambo, Moises Arias, Brendan Meyer, Conor Carroll, Suraj Parthasarathy. This film could be a serious career launcher for any or all of these kids.
We’ll see if Gavin Hood at the helm as the writer and director of the film can pull all of them together to make something great. If well done it could become one of the great classic science fiction films of our time, but it’s not a challenge undertaken lightly, or with inadequate resources.
Ender’s Game is now slated to hit theaters on November 1, 2013.
