The first trailer for Ender’s Game, the sci-fi film based on the classic novel by Orson Scott Card, was released yesterday and it promises to be one of the biggest sci-fi movies of 2013. The Hugo award-winning story, which focuses on a young boy named Ender Wiggin who is recruited to become a military commander, has been both influential and controversial since it was first published in 1985. It has been followed by numerous sequels and spin offs, crafting an enormous universe that has been begging to be turned into film for decades.
With the release date of November 1 of this year, Ender’s Game will expose a much larger audience to a story about children being groomed to fight an intergalactic war against an insect-like alien race.
In a move that marks the evolving relationship between entertainment and social media, the trailer debuted on Google+ and YouTube first, capturing over 1.3 million views in less than 24 hours. The trailer, which fortunately is chock full of solid details about the look and plot of the film, doesn’t disappoint:
Some have described Ender’s Game and the numerous books that have emerged from it as Harry Potter in space, referring to the similar storylines of a boy who learns to utilize his great abilities and the potential to capture the attention of a broad audience. Should the film be a success, there’s little doubt that a film franchise will be in the works with so much original material to pull from, especially when Orson Scott Card served as co-producer to the film.
When it comes to the world of science fiction, film adaptions of novels have been a mixed bag. On one hand, Blade Runner is a masterful adaptation of Philip K. Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? but then there’s the 1997 movie version of Robert Heinlein’s Starship Troopers, which was a disappointment to many. As a film, Ender’s Game has it’s own challenges both ethically with the way that children are groomed to become soldiers and technically with antigravity combat in the Battle Room.
A film of this scope has the potential to spark renewed interest in space among younger generations and could catalyze public support for efforts like Elon Musk’s SpaceX. Considering how influential Star Trek was to generations of scientists and engineers, Ender’s Game could also help inspire a slew of future technologies.
It’s a long wait until November for fans of the book, but based on what’s been revealed so far, it’ll be worth the wait.
