Hi folks,
looks like we are going to keep finding these little gems from Comic Con for a while. Here is an awesome interview Screen Rant did with Gavin Hood. He speaks about how he personally relates to the story of Ender, what Space Camp did for the kids and the filming process, how they deal with Ender realizing that “the enemy’s gate is down,” and Hood’s opinion on Orson Scott Card and his views on gay marriage.
Source: Screen Rant
I know the quality sucks a bit, and we’ll try to get a better quality one as soon as possible, but we didn’t want to keep this from you. This is the first time we’ve seen Ender and Alai together in character in the movie! The picture was taken quasi by accident by the folks of Collider, who actually just wanted a photograph of the Ender’s Game Experience classroom desks. Be that as it may, this is proof that Ender and Alai’s friendship is acknowledged in the movie!
Source: Collider
Hey Launchies, Crystal from Enderwiggin.net and Kelly from EnderNews.com were on a roll during Comic Con. After Episode 22 was posted only days ago, we now get Episode 23 – Ender’s Bullies. Listen to our hosts talk to Caleb Thaggard, who plays Ender’s primary school bully Stilson, and Conor Carroll, who plays Bernard, Ender’s launch group nemesis. You won’t believe how absolutely nice these two baddies are!
Bernard and Stilson chat about
Check out the entire episode HERE!
Image Source: EnderNews
Greetings Enderites!
If you, like me, had to miss out on Comic Con, here comes the podcast that will make you regret it not quite so much: Episode 22 – Launchies in Line. In the first part of the podcast, Crystal from EnderWiggin.net and Kelly from Ender News are waiting in line in front of Hall H to experience the Ender’s Game panel on Thursday, July 18, where they are joined by EnderNews staffer Aidan and long term devoted fan Hannah! In the second part of the podcast, Crystal and Kelly recap the Thursday panel, among other things.
Topics include:
Listen to the episode HERE!
Empire Magazine has released a new behind-the-scenes still from the filming of Ender’s Game. They already put it out in print in their August 2013 issue a couple of weeks ago, but this is the first time they officially used it online. In it, we see director Gavin Hood talk to Asa Butterfield and Suraj Partha about a scene that apparently happens in the battle school corridor and in which they are wearing pyjamas. Can anyone guess which scene this is? And what are those rainbow-colored rings?
Read Empire’s accompanying article about the Ender’s Game Comic Con panel HERE!
Source: Empire
Producer Bob Orci sat down with What’s Trending at Nerd HQ during Comic Con to talk about the process of making Ender’s Game. He speaks about getting the movie produced, casting Harrison Ford (or rather being cast by him), aging up the kids, and shooting the movie in sequence so that Ender’s physical growth would match Asa’s. I also think he and the interviewer are having a speed talking contest.
Source: Youtube
Asa Butterfield and Hailee Steinfeld sat down with Moviefone (as did Harrison Ford) to chat a bit about what it was like to film Ender’s Game. They talk about funny moments, the professional atmosphere on set, and the pranks they all (including, it seems, the adults) played on each other while filming. And guess what: the Ender’s Game slang from the books made it into the movie!
My favorite part of the interview is Hailee’s recollection of a prank Gavin Hood played on her:
At the end of the film, one of the cast members, Moises Arias, who plays Bonzo Madrid, had to shave his hair for the ending scene. You know, it’s one of those things where you’re OK with it because you have to do it, but it’s also like, you know… it’s a big thing, right? So Moises handled it very well, but you could see he was a little, you know, taken aback by looking at himself in the mirror and this drastic change. And Asa and I walked on set and Gavin turns around and has a black eye. My heart dropped. I was like, “What just happened?” And he 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, crying. I was like, “Moises would never do that. What’s happening?” And then they were like, “Just kidding! It’s makeup!”
Read the entire interview HERE!
Source: Moviefone
In a recent interview with Moviefone (Asa and Hailee did one, too), Harrison Ford talks about Colonel Graff, how he compares to other character’s he’s played over the years, and the Hollywood studio system. The interview is pretty standard fare, but Harrison Ford is HILARIOUS!
My favorite part has to be this:
I wanted to switch gears a bit …
[Smiles] I thought you might.[Laughs] It’s not exactly what you expect — at least I am hoping it’s not. It may start out like that but …
[Laughs] It won’t end up like that!OK, but give me a chance!
Take your best shot.Your earlier movies still make news today — “Star Wars,” “Indiana Jones,” etc. My question to you is…
[Harrison begins drumming on the coffee table in front of him][Laughs]… is there one movie of yours that you wish got more attention than those movies?
That I wish got more attention? No. Well, there were movies that I think were good movies that did not receive as much attention at the time. I don’t think I remember any… oh, the one that comes to mind is “Mosquito Coast,” which I think was a really good movie and perhaps didn’t receive as much attention as it might have.
Read the rest of the interview HERE!
Source: Moviefone
In this brief interview with Clevver TV, Hailee is talking about the training the young actors did prior to filming as well as the costumes and sets of Ender’s Game, while Asa comments on Ender being aged up and the scene he is most excited about fans seeing.
Also, check out Clevver TV’s Comic Con red carpet gallery featuring stars from Ender’s Game (and Divergent) HERE!
Source: Clevver TV
Entertainment site The Verge just uploaded their coverage of Ender’s Game at San Diego Comic Con. They spoke briefly with Asa and Hailee outside the Ender’s Game Experience before they sat down with director Gavin Hood and producer Bob Orci to discuss the making of the movie. Watch them talk about getting involved in the project, financing the movie, their devotion to stay true to both the “cool stuff” and the “cerebral” side of the book, and why the teaser trailer is so heavy on CGI.
Source: The Verge’s Youtube Channel
More videos from Comic-Con are being uploaded every day on youtube and various entertainment sites. Among them are a bunch of flash interviews with Asa Butterfield and Hailee Steinfeld, which apparently were all held in the same room in the same time slot. Watch interviews by Hitflix and MoviesDotComOfficial HERE and HERE!
Personaly, I love this one with CraveOnline because it asks some nerdy questions about the coolest sets and moments during the filming of Ender’s Game and how hard it was not to geek out around SciFi movie icon Harrison Ford. Watch Asa and Hailee having loads of fun answering those questions below.
Source: Youtube
Back in December, Crystal posted an editorial about whether or not the upcoming Ender’s Game movie needed to go as far as the book in terms of violence. In Pondering the Fate of Stilson, she argued that having Ender kill Stilson before he even gets to Battle School may not only be not necessary and severely stretch credibility (look a the size difference between Caleb Thaggard and Asa Butterfield), it may also be harmful in that it may lead audiences to despise Ender or even encourage people to commit violence themselves.
Now, Ender’s Game director Gavin Hood has finally addressed the matter in an interview with Cinemablend’s Kelly West. Here is what he had to say:
I think that all those elements of bullying, which is a great theme in the world right now, and how kids deal with being bullied, which we know is so powerful in the book, thatʼs in the movie. But what I try to do as a filmmaker in terms of handling questions of violence, is I donʼt believe in showing violence for violenceʼs sake and repetitive violence. For me, what I have found is an act of violence can be so sudden, whatʼs more interesting is the aftermath. And so, our movie is not, I hope, in any way, really violent. I donʼt want it to be a violent film, but the effect of the moment of violence on the psyche of the protagonist and the people around him is profound as it is in the book. It has to be, and so those key scenes in the book –Bonzo in the shower– are absolutely in the movie, and they shock in their suddenness, but they are not in any way indulgent. Iʼm not interested in showing blood flying around the room or any of, none of that. Whatʼs more important is to see how these young character handle it and thatʼs why I think itʼs an important film. As a parent, I want my kids to go to a movie and not be spoken down to, deal with difficult themes, but be able to talk about it, not celebrate that, just talk about it.
Looks like Gavin Hood has put a lot of thought into the question of how much violence is really necessary in the movie to have the desired effect on the characters and the audience, and how much would really just be violence for violence’s sake. He seems to have a pretty decent grasp on where the thin line runs between dramaturgy and pornography. Sounds like we are going to be sufficiently shocked, without being traumatised by watching graphic displays of kids dying in puddles of their own blood. (my emphasis)
Source: Cinemablend
Blogger Mike Pierce (from iwatchmike.com), a.k.a. mikethemovieguy on Twitter, has made it his job to hang around the Summit booth and the Ender’s Game Interactive Experience to provide us all with footage on how everything is coming together.
Watch Mike’s socialcam video below for your very first look at the battle room stars! Look how huge they are!
Mike also talks about some interesting rumors concerning “some interactive people there who are playing the characters.” We have wondered why some of the cast members were rumored to be going to Comic Con, but weren’t listed in the official autograph signing line-ups. Could this be where they’ll be hanging out?
Follow Mike on Twitter (@mikethemovieguy)!
Source: Mike’s Twitter