Philotic Web

As I read the EG series another time over, I cannot help but wonder: How will they make this movie?

Don't get me wrong, this movie would be like honey from the heavens, but all to often I find myself thinking, "How could OSC put this part into the script, it's only a thought?"

Which makes me think about one thing as I read the books this time around. That much of the book is only thoughts from Ender and/or members of his jeesh. I mean I, let alone seemingly genius Battle School graduates, would never say some of those things out loud; and wouldn't it make it extremely corny if every few seconds there was an overdramatic "EnderVoice" saying something in the background while Ender's mouth is not moving.

I guess that's my two cents so to speak, but I would appreciate some speculation on this if you have any.

Thanks much

OSC talks about this in the afterwords to EG & ES in audiobook format. He says he wasn't able to write a compelling movie script for EG until he wrote ES. Then it becomes a "buddy movie" instead of doing cheesy voice-overs. Because, he also says, the other option is to have Ender talk about his thoughts/feelings, and if he did that, he wouldn't be Ender. By telling the story of Bean and Ender, it gives the story the heart, if you will, and takes out some of the flatness of watching Ender's story without knowing what he's thinking.

Just a thought, but it would be fairly believable, at least to me to have older Ender, or maybe Val as the Narrator for the film, as if they were reading from a biography of Ender, or telling it. EG Ender talking about his thoughts and feeling would be out of character, but not Speaker Ender.

And, of course, OSC would never bend a character's personality around a pole to make it work. >_>

Being a newbie to the Ender series I really hope they either take their time on making a film or just let it be because this kind of series you do not want to disappoint your readers on in-case the film isn't all its cracked up to be. Not many films can even come close to living up to the book. A few that come to mind of being close are Lord of the Rings series and the Harry Potter series. Maybe a few others as well. I've only read EG and plan on reading the other two (is there only two others?) as well. I can honestly say I thoroughly enjoyed this book and though I had a busy schedule with work I finished the book in just under three days. I usually don't keep many books around for a second read but this book will definitely stay on my shelf for the near future when I decide to pick it up and read it again!

In the original Ender series there are:
Ender's Game
Speaker for the Dead
Xenocide
Children of the Mind

In the parallel Shadow series there are:
Ender's Shadow
Shadow of the Hegemon
Shadow Puppets
Shadow of the Giant

And then there is the newest book, Ender in Exile, which chronologically falls between Ender's Game and Speaker for the Dead but references things from the Shadow series.

In my opinion you should read the books in this order:

enders game

enders shadow

shadow of the hegemon

shadow puppets

ender in exile

speaker for the dead

xenocide

shadow of the giant

children of the mind

Well, they don't have to make as Ender's Game movie. They could start with another book, but Ender's Game did start it all...

As much as I love the story (both series) I hope no movies ever get made. After years of reading and re-reading I'm content with my minds eye version. I would view it for shure, but with little more excitement than I felt when the comic series came out.

Buck up buttercup

Yeah it would be weird to see people who weren't what we pictured in our heads, but it would be cool to get new pictures in our heads for things that are hard to imagine. Like spaceships. I don't have a good picture in my head of what they look like and the movie could help with that.

wow. this might be my longest post ever.

The thought processes might not be that hard to write in. I find myself thinking of Scrubs, where the character is just talking (to the audience) as the other characters go about their days. Or maybe a soliquoy. The thoughts could be portrayed, though not necessarily efficiently.

But talking to the audience would be kinda cheesy don't you think? If these characters are always one step ahead(or in Graffs case, 10 steps ahead) wouldn't telling the audience there extremely well thought out plan ruin the genius there?

The audiene speak woudl only be in occasions wer Ender told you what was happenign anyway. Like his monologues abouth is army, or bonzo

But then the other revelations that characters like Ender and Bean make would be confusing for those who have no idea what's going on wouldn't understand the process.

What revelations are you talking about? I fail to see the point your making, I think your just being thick.

I'm not being thick, like when Bean figures out that there are tracking devices in the suits and when he decides he wants Poke kill Achilles with the rock, if we don't know what is going on in his head then how will the other unfamiliar people understand why he all the sudden wanted to kill Achilles that one time or how he found out about the tracking device and stripped down to go into the vents?

It's not like he told anybody about his little epiphany.

Sorry, revelation was not the correct word to use.

It seems liek some of those could easily be left out. Like the achiiles-rock thing, thats identified in hisactions.

And like I said, Scrubs. Do you not watch Scrubs?

Not often. What do they do that would work for EG?

Narration would blast it apart. This is why I think the most deeply thought and philosophically correct novels cannot be made into films. In Harry Potter, Harry had friends that he told everything to; in Ender's Game, no one told anyone practically anything.

explaining itwould be too hard. watch an episode, and take careful note of the character JD. His personal monologues sould help.

it would have to be a loooong series to really touch anything deeper than face value (how I feel the Marvel editions are)... though they are pretty good if you already know the story being told, they just would not be as effective had i not already known the story of ender and bean

In my opinion you should read the books in this order:

enders game

enders shadow

shadow of the hegemon

shadow puppets

ender in exile

speaker for the dead

xenocide

shadow of the giant

children of the mind

Everyone is entitled to their opinion. However, I believe that reading the books in the publication sequence is the best way of following the evolution of concepts/ideas/stories/lessons which were at the focus of Sir Orson's attention while writing each book, and that the exposé of these ideas flows with better continuity in the sequence intended by the author. Having just finished "Ender in Exile", I believe Sir Orson's Afterword confirms this view.

For that reason, I have not even considered whether the above proposed sequence has merits. Some people believe a chronological storyline is best, but that may not *always* be the case for the reason stated above, especially since the Shadow series don't have the same focus as the original series.

For myself, having been forced to await these infrequent literary blessings from Sir Orson's Garden of Eden, over the span of 30 years. "Ender in Exile" was a most appropriate report on Ender's "lost years"!

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Do your best, and strive to be true to yourself!

Ender's Game is a novel whose "magic" can only be truly conveyed if the delivery is tuned perfectly. Having said that, I don't know for sure what that tuned delivery would look like, but here are my thoughts.


[1] Who to play the roles?

With the most recent release of Avatar, I believe technology can now override the lack of child actors able to fully represent each of the characters played out in Ender's Game. I don't believe that it is a good thing to ask children to try to play out roles of individuals who have been subjected to extreme circumstances (as in the book), and then to expect them not to be psychologically affected. This is just one opinion.


[2] Dénouement? How much?

The method and sequence of presentation of situations, issues, challenges, soul-searching, choices and consequences is paramount in ensuring the film remains true to the original novel. For this reason, I am not convinced, that a single standalone movie can do proper justice to what Ender's Game .... unless.... as was done for the Dune version made in 2000, which was 4.5 hours. I haven't given it much thought, but trying to find break-points for multi-episodic movies, to properly cover just the first book, would be very difficult. This is why the most recent Dune movie should influence the approach to presentation. My sense of the break-point would be when Hyram calls Ender to his office to tell him hes is stripped of his original team and forced to start anew. There is a real sense from the story that Ender had to figuratively step back, take a deep breath, and regroup his energies. Everything after that builds up to the final battle and the end.


[3] The unspoken word

Thought processes are difficult to convey in movies: real thought takes a small fraction of the time it does to recite the thought process aloud. Sometimes it can't be "said", it is a checklist, or a conscious feeling or a subconscious instinct. Such thoughts presented in the book are critical for readers to get into the minds of the characters and their intentions. The only way to get these thoughts out there is by using narration.

I've seen comments by others where the idea of narration is anathema. If there was too much of it, I would agree. But again, looking at the recent Dune movie, very strategic usage of narration, remaining true while in condensed form, would ensure viewer perceptions are directed where the author intended, thereby maintaining the fidelity of the presentation medium for the story and its messages.

-*-

Those are my thoughts. Having only discovered this late that an Ender movie was in the works, it may be too late for any of this to matter ... but you never know.

Good luck with the creation process!

Sir Orson, I await this film child with baited breath!


Eric M.

planning to see the midnight premire and probably dress up like the sci-fi nerd i am.

but, WHEN IS IT COMING OUT??????????????????????????????????

its been an idea and in the making for so long the suspence is killing me!!

last i heard it was like march of 2011, but now im not even sure if itll make that

does anyone know when it comes out??

last i heard it was like march of 2011, but now im not even sure if itll make that

Um... probably not. What we know about the film's progress is pretty much the same as what we knew 5 years ago. Still working on a script, no director, no cast... but it IS coming.

god dammit...suspence is killing me

Don't worry, soon you will become jaded and cynical like us.

I think we know less, actually. Wasn't Petersen still on board to direct in 2005?

I think we know less, actually. Wasn't Petersen still on board to direct in 2005?

Probably. Troy had just come out, and I seem to remember discussing if it was any good in the interest of his ability to direct EG for a while afterwards.

But yes, cynical and tired you soon will be.

It's not a good sign when there's NOTHING going for it. No screenplay, director, studio, or a mover and shaker of a producer. It'll be a long time before Ender's Game ever gets to the screen. Sadly...

Salaam

Unfourtantly they have temporarily nuked the EG film idea, but have started on a Battle Room focused video game.

Link, Graff?

As far as I'm aware, OSC is still working on another screenplay and OddLot was still connected to the project.

I was searching OSC film news and I got a newspaper article. Admittly(sp?), I don't know how old this article was.

Link? Or scanned image, if it's in paper format?

It would definitly have a link if I could ever find it again