The enemy's gate is at your local theater.

[timepiececlock]

::headdesk::

They've aged the youngest, Bean, to 9 or 10? .... Does that make Ender 11? And it all takes place in a year?

It's begun. The making of my next favorite book into a science fiction film.

The last five years have brought us LOTR and and Hitchhiker's Guide, the former of which was wonderful and the latter of which was just okay. That's 2 out of my 4 favorite books/series ever.

And now Ender's Game is starting to go forward.

DAMN.

After that the only thing left to pillage from my heart for the purpose of movie-making is The Dark Tower. And if that EVER happens, they sure as hell better get Hugh Jackman to be Roland Deshain or there will be killing. Fields of blood coating the beaches of Midworld and Mejis, my friends. And, as a side note, I'd love it if they could get what's her name from Firefly to be Susannah.

Back to Ender's Game, though...

For those who haven't read Ender's Game, and would like a bit of background:

A Naruto analogy is the easiest thing that comes to mind. You know how Kakashi was so smart and talented that he passed the Chuunin exam at 6 years old?

Ender Wiggin is kind of exactly like that. Only he went to a government school for military officer training, and they didn't learn ninja stuff. But he was 6 years old, and he is smarter than you, smarter than Veronica Mars, smarter than just about everyone. Imagine a six year old Kakashi with the heart of Naruto and the temperament of Hinata and Gaara combined. And if Ender were in Narutoverse, he'd grown up to be Kakashi&Shikamaru combined, and then he'd be Hokage by 18.*

Wolfgang Peterson is directing. He's done The Perfect Storm, which I liked. And Outbreak, which I liked. He's also done Troy, which I *didn't* like. Troy also doesn't set a great precedent for book adaptations.

Mostly, I'm worried EG could turn into a spectacle film. The list above is all made of spectacle films. Sure, it takes place in space. But the aliens are off-screen and 90% of the book occurs in a school. A SCHOOL. ON A REMOTE SPACESHIP. Not a lot of spectacle, there. Mostly EG is an introspective book about the relationships between children and their teachers, children and their peers, and children and society. It's also about war and genocide and what it means to be the smartest kid in the class. It's also, incidentally, kind of violent. In two places, but the second one is more important than the first one. And let me tell you this: it happens in a shower.

Nobody wants to watch a movie with children about children where there's a violent scene in a public shower. They're gonna edit this book, and I'm gonna drag my own ass kicking and screaming to the theater, and when I get there I'm going to sit in the front row and throw popcorn at the screen and talk in loud voices. Earn my ticket to the special hell.

Because they'll be ruining a book so wonderful that I finished it in two days and have reread it four times. It was my first "change your life perspective" book. You know, one of the books you mark the passing of time by. Or maybe that's just me who marks time with books. But it was the only book I've actively pimped out to everyone I know and run around saying "READ THIS BOOK NOW IT WILL OWN YOU."

Oh well. Maybe there'll be some funny Penny Arcade strips written about it, at least.


To sum up this post I'm using my Naruto "Thursday's Child" icon. Which, if you've read Ender's Game, is oddly appropriate.


*sooner or later I can cross Naruto with ANY fandom.

Comments

[donna-c-punk.livejournal.com]

He also directed Das Boot (probably the BEST submarine movie ever made), Enemy Mine, Shattered, Outbreak and Air Force One. All either good flicks or quality fun. He's also directing the remake of The Poseidon Adventure, which I'm terribly wary of. No word on any casting, but they'd better not fuck up Gene Hackman's role, Rev. Frank Scott.

The rash of remakes (and making old TV series' into movies) in Hollywood is troubling.

[rashaka.livejournal.com]

But all those are big, spectacle films. The spectacle in EG is all the battleroom, and even that's not hugely spectacular, visually.

I'm wary of them Hollywoodizing EG to make it more actiony or less unsettling. The book was meant to make you think, not meant to be a fun Harry Potter in space. I don't want spectacle, I want character development and snappy dialogue.

The Poseidon Adventure, huh? Well, that could be good or bad. But the old one is pretty good, so it sounds like fixing something that's not broken...

[donna-c-punk.livejournal.com]

Considering Das Boot was made when he was still directing mainly in Germany, the SFX were as common as they come (no CGI in that flick) and the story relied on character dynamics more than anything else, I believe he'd do a decent job with what you've described to me. Sadly, I haven't read these books, but they sound like they're great.

[rashaka.livejournal.com]

That sounds good then. Let's hope it goes more like that than like Troy.

Sadly, I haven't read these books, but they sound like they're great.

I've only read the first one, but there are more. I'll read them someday, but I'm happy with the first one.

I think I know your tastes pretty well by now, and I think you'd like Ender's Game. It's a little bit of the same sensibility as Battle Royale and Naruto... and kind of like Lord of the Flies. In space. With adult side characters, and made very, very political.

What I added above to the post:

A Naruto analogy is the easiest thing that comes to mind. You know how Kakashi was so smart and talented that he passed the Chuunin exam at 6 years old?

Ender Wiggin is kind of exactly like that. Only he went to a government school for military officer training, and they didn't learn ninja stuff. But he was 6 years old, and he is smarter than you, smarter than Veronica Mars, smarter than just about everyone. Imagine a six year old Kakashi with the heart of Naruto, and the temperament of Hinata and Gaara combined.

[donna-c-punk.livejournal.com]

Petersen also had a hand in writing the movie Das Boot, so he knows something about the importance of character relationships. I swear, I love that film so much and recommend it at every chance I get. It's over four hours, but it's four hours of such fantastic cinema that I can't believe I'm in tears over a World War II German sub crew. And don't feel dirty about it, either.

I'll have to look into the books. I'm debating on Chronicles Of Narnia, since that's the next big thing hitting theatres and I gotta see what all C.S. Lewis and Tolkien ripped off of each other while they were exchanging letters back in the 20s and 30s.

[octopedingenue]

I remember you making Ender's Game comparisons with "Naruto" long before I had read either, and for a while I had a vague picture in my head of "Naruto" having lots of bug aliens running around a la a cross between Alien / the bug-robot Tachikomas from "Ghost in the Shell". Heh.

[rashaka.livejournal.com]

You know, I always kinda imagined them having a vaguely Tachikoma look too. Though I'd never watched GitS when I read the books. But I had a similar shape and movement in mind. Actually, I think I imagined the buggers as looking like The Shadows on Babylon 5, crossed with a preying mantis.

Naruto with aliens. That *is* a concept.

Ew! Now I have nasty thoughts of my favorite Naruto characters being impaled in the stomach from behind with an alieny spikey thing like the android in Aliens (2)! Bad thoughts! ::scrubs brain::

[fadingembers.livejournal.com]

While I know nothing of Ender's Game, I thought I'd point out that the link at the beginning doesn't work. (When I read it from my friends page, it wanted to link me back to my lj, and I thought, "What? What did I do?")

=^..^=

[rashaka.livejournal.com]

fixed!

[rainjewel.livejournal.com]

*adores Ender's Game*

Word, my friend. Word.