Asa Butterfield Looks Forward to Working with Kingsley
BBC America has just posted a wonderful clip of Asa Butterfield, the actor set to play Ender, talking Ender’s Game and Ben Kingsley. “That’s going to be incredible, reuniting with him,” says Butterfield on working with Ben Kingsley in Ender’s Game. Keep in mind, as of last Thursday Kingsley is still in negotiations (although, he sounds like it’s almost a sure thing).
Asa Butterfield also talks about what it’s like to be so young and doing something so big. “It is difficult because I am doing something so different. Barely anyone my age does this, but I do try and keep my acting life and my normal life separate.” He follows up quickly, “Whenever I’m at school, I just do whatever any other 14-year-old kid does. I play computer games. I hang out with mates. I’ve got sort of two different lives, my personal and my professional.”
Those are some wise words for someone so young. It’s unclear at this time when this was taken, but you can watch the short clip of Asa Butterfield discussing the Ender’s Game movie below!
Last Thursday, Ben Kingsley sat down for NPR’s on Point on which he talked about his possible involvement in the Ender’s Game movie as Mazer Rackham. NPR’s Tom Ashbrook asked: “Are you also going to be acting again with the young Asa Butterfield, who was in Hugo, did I read?”
Kingsley responded, “You read correctly. I am just about winding up negotiations to be with my young wonder costar, Asa, in Ender’s Game.” Kingsley also calls Asa Butterfield a miracle; you can hear the full podcast here. Skip ahead to 43:10.
Overall Ben Kingsley sounds a little more sure that he’ll play Mazer than last month. Thanks @elfprince13 for the tip!
Casting Directors Call Teens and Young Adults The casting for the Ender’s Game movie is still not over! It has just been announced that there will be another round of casting this Thursday on January 19, 2012. While the parameters for the casting call are widely the same, there are two important differences. Firstly, the age group. Saturday’s open casting call specified ages 10-17, this time the casting call has been broadened to young adults ages 12-21.
To audition, bring a recent snapshot of yourself between the hours of 3:30 and 6:30 on Thursday January 19, 2012 to the address below (this is the second important change):
St. Bernard Parish Government OfficeParish Council Chambers at 8201 West Judge Perez DrChalmette, LA 70043
You can read the full announcement here. Homeschoolers are still strongly encouraged to audition. In case you missed it, we brought you inside Saturday’s open casting call, click here read about what you can expect for this casting call. You can read a fun tweet for one of the Ender’s Game casting directors below! For more follow our public twitter list for the Ender’s Game movie here.
Let us know if you or someone you know plans on auditioning in the comments!
Finally, the newest addition to the Enderverse, Shadows in Flight, is released today! Shadows in Flight is not the book which will tie together the Speaker and Shadow Series. Instead, it will be a sequel to Shadow of the Giant. Orson Scott Card remarks, “Now that I’ve written it [Shadows in Flight], I don’t know how I imagined I was ever going to write that final book without having written this one first!” Card also announced that Shadows Alive will be the new title of the final book which will wrap up both the Speaker and Shadow series. Shadows Alive does not have a release date. Here’s the description of Shadows in Flight:
“Shadows in Flight be a sequel to Shadow of the Giant in the Shadow Series. The novel will follow Bean and three of his children into space, where they search for a cure for the giantism that is the price of their genetic enhancement. Near an Earthlike planet, they run into a colony ship from another species, which has a lot of surprises that will change the course of their lives.”
Check out your local bookstore or buy it on Amazon here. Only the hardcover and audiobook are released today. The e-book versions (specifically Kindle and Nook platforms), which will contain multimedia extras not included in the hardcover or audiobook, have a release date longer than a year from now on February 1, 2013 according to Amazon. If Shadows in Flight is not available in your country yet, you can still read the sneak peeks from the first two chapters here.
Edit: From Orson Scott Card’s Facebook page, “If anybody’s watching, Shadows in Flight comes out today. It’s a short novel, but a full story. It introduces Bean’s brilliant children – the ones with the same short-life giantism that gives them savant-like abilities in every area. There’s no ebook for a year, but there’ll be an “enhanced ebook” for Kindle and Nook within a couple of weeks, fully illustrated by Nick Greenwood (and deftly abridged by Jake Black.).”
Edit (again): Macmillan Audio, the publishing company of the Shadows in Flight audiobook was kind enough to give our readers a short preview of the Shadow’s in Flight audiobook. Listen below! Also, for everyone who’s been emailing and searching, we finally know who’s narrating the Shadow’s in Flight audiobook: Stefan Rudnicki and cast. Enjoy!
Casting Directs Seek Homeschooled Students for Battle School
Today there was an open casting call in New Orleans for the Ender’s Game movie. The casting announcement called for “bright and talented kids and teens ages 10-17 of varying ethnic background.” Although picture-taking was not allowed an anonymous person took the picture shown and shared details about the casting processes with us. “Surprisingly, everything moved very quickly. People were allowed in at 10:00, but there were only about 20-25 kids there when the doors opened. However, it ran until 2:00 so many more people probably showed up later. Those who came were directed to the conference room and had to fill out a form with basic information on it. After that, they were led to a row of chairs where they would go down the line getting up and talking to the casting people.”
Our anonymous source also explains that many children who showed up for the open casting call may not be considered. “They were pushing more for homeschool kids (due to the long hours of filming over a large stretch of time), so the children who were were not in homeschool just handed in their form with their picture and were on their way. The others went into another room to have an actual audition in front of the casting people. Everything was very efficiently run and took very little time at all, and the casting people could not have been nicer. Since filming begins in February, I can’t imagine it will be very long before those who attended the open casting call hear back about whether or not they will be involved with the film.”
Best wishes for everyone who answered the casting call today, remember the enemy’s gate is down!
Finally, Lionsgate and Summit Entertainment (Ender’s Game movie production company) have closed a huge merger deal, involving $412.5 million in cash and stock and the assumption of Summit’s $500 million debt. Variety reports that the deal was approved Tuesday, but last minute details were not finalized until early Friday morning.
Lionsgate chiefs released a statement saying, “We are uniting two powerful entertainment brands, bringing together two world-class feature film franchises to establish a commanding position in the young adult market, strengthening our global distribution infrastructure and creating a scalable platform that will result in significant and accretive financial benefits to Lionsgate shareholders.” Indeed, with Lionsgate’s new acquisition, the production company will have the market cornered for young adult franchises including the Twilight and Hunger Games franchises and possibly an Ender’s Game franchise.
Some fans may be left wondering if this buyout will impede the production of the Ender’s Game movie which has a tight scheduled release date of March 2013. Summit execs told Variety, “We told them that we’re going to continue to go about their business because we have a lot of films coming,” on what this means for employees and projects currently held by Summit. “We are going to continue to operate Summit day to day and work with Lionsgate on a seamless transition. We are not taking our foot off the pedal.” This is good news for Ender’s Game fans, because it indicates that filming for the Ender’s Game movie will not be delayed, but will begin as scheduled toward the end of February.
Reportedly, the father of Suraj Pathasarathy (the actor who will play Alai) recently let it slip on Twit.tv‘s live CES (Consumer Electronics Show) coverage that filmmakers are already planning to make the Ender’s Game movie into sequels. Speaking to Leo Laporte, and unknowingly live, the father of Suraj Partha said (again reportedly, follow up to come) “between you and me, it’s slated for more than one film.”
Of course rumors over sequels for the Ender’s Game movie have been swirling around for some time. Both Tor (Ender’s Game publisher) and Deadline have speculated that Summit Entertainment originally picked up Ender’s Game with the purpose of building a money-making franchise to rival Lionsgate’s Hunger Games franchise. Now, with Summit Entertainment and Lionsgate headed for a $700 million merger deal, a sequel or sequels to the Ender’s Game movie would benefit both parties.
Of course, there is no official word on any Ender’s Game sequels. If Twit.tv makes this netcast with Suraj Partha’s father available, we’ll be sure share the link! Which sequel or sequels would you most like to see on the big screen, Ender’s Shadow or Speaker for the Dead? Thanks Rob for the tip!
It’s what so many fans have been waiting for… an open casting call has just been announced for the Ender’s Game movie! Read the casting call below:
“Ender’s Game open casting call being held at the Hilton Garden Inn located in the Warehouse District of New Orleans on Saturday, January 14th from 11am to 3pm.
Alexis Allen, in association with Batherson Casting, are seeking bright and talented kids and teens ages 10-17 of varying ethnic background for the feature film production of Orson Scott Card’s “Ender’s Game”; based on one of the most famous science fiction novels of the last 40 years. We will be filming in New Orleans from February 2nd through the end of June 2012, providing those selected with up to 8 weeks of work.
To be considered, please come to the open call this weekend, located at the adress below between 11am and 3pm
Hilton Garden Inn 1001 South Peters St New Orleans 70130
Please also bring a recent 4×6 picture of yourself. Homeschooled students are especially encouraged, because of the work duration during school hours.
We are very excited to be filming here in New Orleans and know that the talented youth of this great city will make this production a shining success! Those who are selected will have the adventure of a lifetime and become part of science fiction cinema history!! We look forward to hearing from you and working together!”
Anyone planning on going to the open casting call? Leave it in the comments! Source.
Via IMDb, the Ender’s Game art department has added a new crew member under the title “Creature Designer.” For those familiar with Ender’s Game, this information undoubtedly pertains to the buggers. The man in charge of designing the buggers for the film will be Tully Summers. He has worked on other similar projects, including: Avatar, Men in Black III, Cowboys & Aliens and Star Trek. You can read his full credits here. Thank you, Stephen Sywak for the tip!
How do you hope the buggers will be designed in the Ender’s Game movie?
Alea, from our partner Philotic Web, conducted a nice lengthy interview with Fiumara exclusively for our collective readers. You can read the full interview and see a few of his illustrations below after the jump. Note the drawing of Bean (aka Ender’s Shadow) which Fiurama drew specifically for our interview; to see a much larger version click here. If you would like to see more of this work click here; he even has a neat section with more drawings of the Rotterdam kids.
Ender’s Ansible/ Philotic Web: How did you get involved with the Ender comics? Sebastián Fiumara:I was finishing my previous book, Marvel Illustrated: The Picture of Dorian Gray and the editor told me Marvel would be developing a couple of mini series based on OSC´s novels and asked me if I was interested in participating. I was not familiar with the book by then, but after he told me what it was about, I was in. It was also appealing for me to do it because I had never been involved with a Sci-Fi book before; it would be a good artistic challenge.
EA/PW: Have you spoken or interacted with Orson Scott Card at all in the process? SF: I’ve always interacted through the editor. He was the one who talked with Orson, showed him the work I was doing and then passed me his notes. I was told Scott Card himself selected me for this project and that he was really happy with my work but I never spoke with him directly.
EA/PW: How much interaction did you have with the writer, Mike Carey? What forms of communication did you use most often in your interactions? SF: We communicated all the time by e-mail. Very often during the process first the editor would send me the script and after I read it, I’d write to Mike with some notes or questions and he would respond to me on everything. Every time I finished a comic page I’d send it to him and to the editor for approval and we’d discuss any comments about my drawings. He was always a gentleman, a very professional, nice guy to work with.
EA/PW: How much of the character and setting design did you come up with and how much was based on previous work by Pasqual Ferry, on the Ender’s Game: Battle School series? SF: As Ender’s Shadow tells almost the same facts that occur in Ender’s Game novel but from Bean’s point of view, I needed to follow Pasqual’s designs in everything that was related to Ender’s story: of course Ender, the rest of the crew, the technology, the Formics, etc. It was very cool and really fun to do; Pasqual is very talented and gave a perfect futuristic feel to the series. I only had to make sure to follow him but with my own point of view, i.e. Bean’s point of view. In the case of Bean and all the other characters and the sights of Rotterdam that appear in the first issues, it was my own doing.
EA/PW: How much liberty are you able to take in the design process? Are you given strict guidelines to follow or given freedom to do as you wish? SF: I had total freedom with this book, except of course following Pasqual Ferry’s designs. Although, in the creation of Bean in particular, Orson Scott Card sent a picture of a boy he thought could be a good model from where we could start building Bean’s look. It was the only case. With the rest of the characters, I imagined them after reading the novel and draw a sketch and sent it to the editors. They approved my ideas and initial concepts in almost all cases.
EA/PW: For those of us who are unfamiliar with the production side of comics, can you shed some light on the creation of a comic; that is, what stages does a comic go through from concept to printing? SF: I don’t have the detailed info about the whole process, but generally speaking, the editors bring the first concept or idea for a comic book. When it’s approved they hire the creative team, a writer, the artists (penciler and inker) and the colorist they think could take care properly of the story they want to tell. When the writer has the script done and approved the artist starts drawing. After this stage, the inker starts doing the finishing. Sometimes the penciler is also the inker. Anyway, when all inked pages are approved by the editors, they go to the colorist and the letterer. And then, the production crew of the company takes care of the design of the book before sending it to print.
EA/PW: What part of that process is your favorite? SF: Artistically, the part I enjoy the most is the inking. I love to do the pencils but the inks generally are more relaxed and enjoyable. I also have a great time reading the script; as an artist it is difficult to see the printed comic book as a whole when you were part of the process to make it. So when I get the script at the beginning I can enjoy it more or less as a reader would do.
EA/PW: I assume you read the comics in the process of doing the art. Do you read the entire issue before you sit down to draw or do you read it as you go along? SF: I read the whole issue several times before I start sketching the layouts of the pages. And then I read it along while I work over the pencils. I want to get the right feeling and idea the writer wants the story to have. In the case the story is an adaptation of a novel like this, I also read the original book alongside the script of the comic book. Just to have some additional help in trying to the get the characters as close as the original source as possible.
EA/PW: Did any of the characters stand out as either being relatable to you or more interesting than the others? SF: Not that I found him relatable to me in any way, but Bean is easily the most interesting of all. I love him. He is very breakable at the beginning of the story but also a little brain mixed with Dirty Harry. It’s difficult not to fall in love with a character like him. He is fragile but he can also be deadly only by staring at you. Poke and Achilles, that triangle relationship with Bean was very intense for the main story too and truly attractive.
EA/PW: Was there a character, panel, or entire issue you did that you were especially proud of? SF: The first issue is special for me, I loved this part of the story where all the action takes place in Rotterdam and we get to know Bean, Sister Carlotta and the other kids. I had a blast working on this chapter. The scene where Bean finds Poke’s dead body on the last pages is one of my favorites. It was a challenge artistically but I think it turned out pretty well.
EA/PW: Were there any parts that were especially challenging to do? SF: Issue three is where the transferring between earth and outer space starts to happen. Bean is sent to the school and here is when Sci-Fi explodes. It was my first time drawing technology and starships and it was difficult. Luckily, I was following most of Pasqual Ferry’s designs so I had half the job done.
EA/PW: One of the great things about the Ender books and thus, the comics, is that the story they tell can be enjoyable to a wide audience, from young teens to adults. What stories were influential in your life, as you were growing up? SF: Any story that had a hero in it. I’ve always loved heroes or superheroes tales. I remember when I was a child being a huge fan of characters like Zorro, Tarzan, or the Super Friends TV show. They were very influential to start drawing superheroes and to become a big comic book lover.
EA/PW: Did you read comics when you were a child? SF: I read some comics when I was a child but very few, only occasionally. I started doing it more often as a teen. I think that was when I really discovered the medium, and started loving it.
EA/PW: What led you into art in general? SF: I had always being drawing, like any other kid I guess. I started copying the drawings my father used to do. I remember drawing all the time. As I was growing up, it always stood with me and was a very important part of my life. I didn’t go to any art school but I never stopped drawing either. Since the beginning I always knew no matter what, I would draw all my life. I only didn’t know how to make a living out of it.
EA/PW: What ultimately made you decide to pursue a career in comic books? SF: When I finished high school I didn’t know what to do, if I would keep studying or what to do with my future career-wise. By then, I already was a big comic book fan and as always I still loved to draw but it never occurred to me that I could actually become a comic book artist. Then I found through the newspaper there was a comic book school in my city so I thought it could be cool to go there and see what happened. As it turned out, I studied there for three years. It was there I realized I wanted to be a comic book artist. It guided my drawing skills and also drove me into the path of my comic book career.
EA/PW: Where can we see your work next, be it Ender related or not? SF: I’m not working in any Ender-related book right now. My last contribution for the series was the covers I did for the adaptation Marvel did of the Ender In Exile novel. I had a blast doing them. I don’t know, maybe someday in the future it could be cool to return to Bean and the Ender myth. These are wonderful characters to work with.
