posted
At this time Lionsgate is still considering an Ender's Game sequel, or a TV series spinoff(Source here). As with most things Hollywood it will largely depend how much money Ender's Game takes in at the box office, whether we'd get to see a sequel in either format.
This started me thinking: Where would they go from here though? In the event of either a TV series or movie, which book should they select to adapt next?
1. Speaker for the Dead Although it was the next published novel in the Ender's Game universe, it would pose some problems as the next adaptation: There would only be two characters carried over from the initial movie and one (Valentine), only very briefly. They would certainly have to select a new actor to play Andrew, as he's aged about twenty years by the start of Speaker for the Dead. The audience that would appreciate Speaker would vary from Ender's Game, as it is a very different kind of story. Albeit, the Speaker through Children of the Mind novels wouldn't require adapting a character to be Andrew's confidant (as was the case with Bean in OSC's script and Petra in Hood's adaption for the Ender's Game movie), because Jane is there for Andrew to share his thoughts with.
2. Shadow of the Hegemon It seems to me to be much more easily adaptable to either television, or movie format. Most of the characters/actors(dependent upon contract negotiations) can be carried over from the Ender's Game movie. The demographic of the audience wouldn't change as largely as it would with Speaker. It could certainly be promoted as more of an action film than Speaker could (greater potential box office= greater chance of film adaptions being green lighted by the studio).
There are some problems that would have to be overcome; though I don't believe they would be to difficult. With Ender's absence Bean would need to be quickly established as the protagonist (which may have been a little easier if Hood would have left Bean as Ender's main confidant in the movie as per OSC's final script). Peter must be quickly established as a power player as a result of the glow of his brother's reflective limelight, and events that were dropped from the Ender's Game movie. Achilles must be quickly established as a character, and his and Bean's back-story carefully revealed.
Thoughts/comments? What novel in the Ender's Game universe should be the next to be adapted for film/television?
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I *think* the Ender Quartet works but it'ld have to be a low budget affair with a ballsy director willing to give a different take and offer up his own imagination to the material that is fairly dense contemplative religious, theological, ethical and philosophical substance that is classic science fiction's hat.
Perhaps a HBO styled mini series would better suit it, but goddamn OSC's views don't help with making it reality the way fans want it to succeed.
The Shadow Series strikes me as Visual Novel/Video game potential. Maybe with the Unreal Engine ina Stanley parabel non action kind of game, one focused on the narrative.
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@ Jeff C. I saw your post after I did this one. I was going to delete it as being repetitive, but I realized the nature of the post were different. Yours being informative(good news: there could be a sequel/spinoff) and this one being analytical(which sequel to do and how?).
I didn't realize Valentine didn't go with Ender in the movie adaptation. I haven't had an opportunity to see it yet. It's on my to do list for early this week.
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Oh sorry, JDickins. I thought you'd seen it. Don't let my comments make you feel like it wasn't good, though, because it was a solid film. The changes mostly make sense when you consider that it's a movie, not a book.
Posts: 1324 | Registered: Feb 2011
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Half the point of a sequel is to build on name recognition of the movie. But the other half is to build on name recognition of the cast. Butterfield and Ford and Breslin are all fairly well known names that the studio would want to make us of. All this to say, I'd be surprised to see them film Speaker. I actually wouldn't mind them trying to tell their own unique sequel unconnected to any of the written material. It would be cool to get a new vision and new story material.
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