Based on a book of the same name , Ender ’s Game — which hits theater of operations today — take aim place in a futuristic world where Earth has already been attacked by an insect - comparable alien race holler Formics . To train for a potential next attack , the best and vivid of Earth ’s children are train , through increasingly difficult game of strategy , to become warriors . One , a 12 - year - previous discover Ender Wiggin , issue a talented military loss leader . Here ’s what you should know before you head to the field of operations .
1. It took nearly three decades to bring the book to the big screen.
NPR
Ender ’s Gamegarnered Hollywood interest when it was publish in 1985 . Butmaking a movie variation really happenwas complicated : As author Orson Scott Card drafted version after version of the playscript , the project bounced from one producer to another , was picked up and then throw away by Warner Bros. , and had a number of director attached before Gavin Hood — who would also spell the screenplay — came on board .
At least one person is n’t surprised it take this long to get anEnder ’s Gamemovie made : Chartoff production ’ Lynn Hendee , who optioned the right for the book in the mid-’90s . " I ’ve always conceive it was hold up to take years to get this movie made because it ’s going to take the lover of the book who show it in their marvel old age to grow old enough and be in attitude of decision - making,“she say Grantland .
Also subservient in getting the movie made were Gigi Pritzker , founding father of OddLot Entertainment ; producer Roberto Orci , who has been involved in blockbuster sci - fi films fromTransformerstoStar Trek ; and the optic consequence caller Digital Domain , which , for the first metre , signed on to be a financial better half as well as a visual force creator . Working with Hood , the company make a ocular event screen Virginia reel of conflict sequences as the director image them ; the squad took that reel to Cannes , where more investor sign on , to the tune of $ 44 million .
Battle elbow room concept art courtesy of Summit Entertainment / Lionsgate .
In 2011 , Summit Entertainment signed on as conscientious objector - investor and distributer , and the plastic film version of Ender ’s Game was formally on its way to being made .
2. The final script condensed the action of the book into a single year.
The script edition ofEnder ’s Gametakes blank space over several years . But that period of time would n’t put to work for the movie , so Hood placed all the action at law in a span of about 12 months . “ Although I thinkEnder ’s Gameis very close to the ideas and characters of the book , I retrieve that it ’s got to be a slimmer translation of the ledger and the Word ’s complexness , ” Harrison Ford , who plays Colonel Hyrum Graff , told Moviefone at San Diego Comic Con . “ Also , the assiduity on the internal cerebration of the character has stick to be objectified and aggrandize . I conceive Gavin Hood did a very good job with the screenplay . ”
Among the things that got cut were a subplot where Ender ’s sib , Peter and Valentine , write political essays under pseudonym and issue them to Earth ’s global communication system , and Graff ’s uncontrollable eating , which causes him to bring in a lot of weight as the book progress . “ Been there done that for42 , ” Ford told Moviefone , laughing . “ I am not going in the fatty suit again . ”
3. The kids went to space camp…
Ender ’s Game Production Blog
What better way to fix to present kids living the military life in place than by run to infinite camp?According to theEnder ’s Gameproduction blog , “ They had to train as though they were really headed into ZERO G. And this was n’t just an good afternoon spent accept a toilet table tour . From the Manned Maneuvering Unit ( MMU ) , which simulates surplus - vehicular shuttlecock missions in Earth ’s celestial orbit , to the microgravity training chairwoman that train astronaut for moonwalks during the Apollo program , the week at Space Camp was genuine homework for the feeling of reality that this movie merit . ”
The doer not only did a heap of stunt body of work , but sleep in bunk rooms and corrode infinite nutrient . “ We learned how to march and salute and a few of the thing you would pick up at a military camp,”Asa Butterfield , who play Ender , separate ScreenCrave . “ So that was pretty good , getting some of that understanding . It give you an brainstorm into what the characters were have . ”
On one paw , the training was nifty because it allow the actors to bond and become groovy friends . On the other handwriting , it could be a piece of a nightmare . " There was all sort of marching , running . ' Left face , correct boldness ' where you reverse in different directions,“Butterfield told Hollywood.com . " If one mortal in the radical of about 100 extras , and 10 or so cast [ members ] , made a error , everyone had to do 10 pushing - ups . And we ’d be jogging and if one person return behind , we ’d have to do 10 pushing - ups . " ( There must have been a lot of push - ups — even the product blogtalked about them ! )
But the most unmanageable matter to do , at least for Butterfield , was “ Waking up at 7 o’clock . That was painful . ”
4. …And had an astronaut tell them what Zero-G is like.
Summit Entertainment / Lionsgate
Another challenge was limn Zero - G in the battle scenes , which the role player shoot in harnesses . “ Harnesses are n’t the most comfy things you may wear,”Butterfield tell io9 . “ It was difficult work , we had a hatful of strong-arm training . And we drop a lot of time practicing getting the movement and venture to be in zero gravity . ” Thankfully , they had a chance to talk with someone who had first - hand experience . “ An astronaut fare in once to talk to us about moving in zero gravity and what it ’s really like in space so we could give the most believable performance , ” Butterfield say . “ You have to move really lento … fluidly and swimmingly . When you ’re in the harnesses to stop yourself from accrue at the waist , which is where they ’re connect , you have to be tensed up . So keeping actions smooth whilst having your whole body all tensed is amazingly difficult . ”
5.Ender’s Gamewas filmed at a NASA facility.
Wikimedia Commons
The production film in New Orleans , where home and schools stood in for the Wiggins ' house and Ender ’s Earth - bound school . When it fare prison term to work up the band for the moving picture ’s dictation school and otherworldly military base of operations , the production go under up workshop in unused warehouses at NASA ’s Michoud Assembly Facility , which has 1.87 million square feet of quad . The fix not only gave the product the room it needed to build up its elaborate sets , but also provided access to expert on physics and astrophysics they might not have spoken to otherwise . “ The studio apartment … were Brobdingnagian warehouses,”Butterfield told Collider . “ There was a logic gate at the back that said top secret , and you could see material behind it , like space ship covered in bin lining . It was quite cool . ”
6. They tried to do as much of the battle room scenes practically as possible.
Though Digital Domain had create a CG test reel of the Battle Room successiveness , Hood was determined to do as much of the scene much as possible , which meant building vast bent and hanging his actors from harnesses controlled by line and motorized implements of war . But some things were still manipulated digitally , including , occasionally , an player ’s move . “ If you do n’t do a completely smooth move , it can leave in incorrect physical science , ” ocular force executive program Matthew Butler told theNew York Times , which breaks down the creation of one battle room succession inthis piece . “ We stabilized the capacity and repositioned some of it . ” Other completely digital characters were added to the scenes as well .
7. The costumers invented the fabric for the students’ flash suits.
Building the world of a futurist sci - fi movie often requires thinking outside of the box . According to the yield web log , only synthetic textile were used to create the students ’ uniform , but the Command School flash suits — which , in the film , will block a portion of the physical structure when hit with the radio beam of an opposing team ’s raygun — had to be made , in the words of the blog , from " sparse air . " Costume interior decorator Christine Bieselin - Clark used “ virtually non - existent fabric design by our incredible production squad . The approximation was to take cues from ‘ extreme sport ’ to urge on our purpose , using real humans practicality as opposed to the raise reality of superhero spandex and a mantle . ”
Butterfield told io9 that the suit were n’t very comfortable . “ They await unbelievable , when you ’re wearing them , ” he allege . “ [ But ] you ’re very red-hot , to say the least . ”
8. The actors—and director—played pranks on each other on set.
Hailee Steinfeld , who plays Petra , told Moviefonethat the picture show ’s young stars “ had this matter where we would literally scare each other everywhere we went . ” But even director Hood got in on the pranking action . “ Moises Arias , who plays Bonzo Madrid , had to shave his hair’s-breadth for the ending picture , ” Steinfeld said . “ Moises handle it very well , but you could see he was a little , you know , taken aback by front at himself in the mirror and this drastic change . And Asa and I walked on set and Gavin turn around and has a pitch-dark center . My heart dropped . I was like , ‘ What just come about ? ’ And [ Gavin ] goes , ‘ I told him . I told him that he could take it out on me because I made him shave his head . ’ And I was literally , like , shout out . I was like , ‘ Moises would never do that . What ’s materialise ? ’ And then they were like , ‘ Just kidding ! It ’s makeup ! ’ That was the biggest harlequinade . ”
9. At least one real-life military man has praised Ender’s leadership abilities.
InEnder ’s World , a volume of essays onEnder ’s Game , Retired U.S. Air Force Colonel Tom Ruby drop a line about what hit Ender an exceptional leader . “ He was not the accidental grinder . Ender was for substantial , ” Ruby writes . “ speculative leader inEnder ’s Gameand throughout history are threatened by other people ’s competency . They luck into triumph . They intimidate rather than motivate . Ender , on the other handwriting , seeks out intelligent subordinates and is confident enough not to have to be the best or smartest . He knows his abilities and the strengths and weaknesses of his team and seeks victory over adulation . In this sense , Ender is like one of the best bosses I ever had . … I think the lessons military drawing card can see fromEnder ’s Gameare numerous and uncomplicated . ”
