This is topic Ender's Game Movie question in forum Discussions About Orson Scott Card at Hatrack River Forum.


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Posted by Sid Meier (Member # 6965) on :
 
Okay, I just thought of something how long is Ender's Game the Motion Picture going to be? 1.5 hours to 3 hours? If its 3 hours then don't really see any problems, while some scenes won't be scene it will allow plenty of time to focus on the scenes that ar enot only important but he most entertaining.
 
Posted by johnsonweed (Member # 8114) on :
 
Not likely more than two. The theater owners push the studios hard on this. The only reason that LOTR got away with it in ROTK was the built in audience, and even then Peter Jackson got pressure to cut it down.
 
Posted by Lanfear (Member # 7776) on :
 
Not more than two? Almost 3/4 of the movies Ive seen have lately in the theaters have been more than two... Star Wars for example. But i agree i dont think it will go past the 2.5 hour mark. The whole idea for the movie is for it to appeal to the mainstream audience. I would be daunted by a three hour sci-fi that i'd never heard of...
 
Posted by TL (Member # 8124) on :
 
Theater owners do not push the studios. They do not need to be pushed. The shorter a movie is, the more times it can be shown in a day. More showings mean more ticket sales. More ticket sales mean more money for the studios. The theaters themselves make *very* little money from ticket sales.

The pressure for shorter movies comes from within the studio system, not from outside it.
 
Posted by Mark (Member # 6393) on :
 
quote:
Not more than two? Almost 3/4 of the movies Ive seen have lately in the theaters have been more than two... Star Wars for example. But i agree i dont think it will go past the 2.5 hour mark. The whole idea for the movie is for it to appeal to the mainstream audience. I would be daunted by a three hour sci-fi that i'd never heard of...
I don't *get* this frame of mind, and, if I may be so bold, I think LOTR proved that time is not a barrier for today's movie-goers. Quality means more than quantity. Some movies can't end soon enough, some are three hours and too short.
 
Posted by Lanfear (Member # 7776) on :
 
I just see all the changes that their making to the Enderverse , ie. making all the kids white, making them older

Those changes are made so that the mainstream white american can "get into" the movie more.

I just imagine myself watching a commercial for a sci-fi movie, and thinking wow thats cool. Maybe ill waste 7.00 dollars on it. Next i see myself going on the internet to find a movie time. Then i check how long the run time is. 3 Hours and 20 minutes!!?!?!? Thats a long time..

Maybe im just odd..
 
Posted by Orson Scott Card (Member # 209) on :
 
The script that is approved is usually 120pp or less (two hours or under). But the script that is shot is often longer than that. Then, in the editing room, the film is either brought to a natural length - which might be more than two hours - or held to the contractual length, which is usually under two hours. It depends on what the studio will accept, for whatever reason.

Nobody is eve thinking of making all the kids white; the only question has been whether to make the Battle School population reflect the racial distribution of Earth as a whole, or of America as a whole. And nobody's even DISCUSSING that right now (it's a past question raised by different people from those now working on the film), so for heaven's sake don't accuse the studio or being wrong on something that's not even being discussed, let alone decided.
 
Posted by Remnant (Member # 8129) on :
 
<sarcasm> But don't you see Mr. Card? You and most Americans are Racist, and only Racism will sell!! Don't you watch CNN! </sarcasm>

But you make a good point, Lanfear.

The movie could be 10 hours long, with monkey's playing the lead rolls and Kenny G doing the soundtrack, and OSC's fanbase would still be there. Its the rest of the world that needs targeting for a successful movie (and dare I say franchise? Oh yes. I dare.)

I would expect a handful of the relationships just to disapear. My guess is that there is no way to fully build relationships with 7 or 8 of the schoolies and ender in a 2 hour movie. So why not have marginal, but important, relationships with 4-5 of them and have deep relationships with only a few.

But thats conjecture and I'm most likely wrong. All I'm saying is THAT is how hollywood tends to "ease" a book into film.
 
Posted by Sid Meier (Member # 6965) on :
 
I was about to say something but I decided not too, the word relationship didn't sound right, friendship wasn't it either, groups maybe but eh, how troublesome. Connection might be the best word, but now i lost the rythm.
 
Posted by Remnant (Member # 8129) on :
 
Good point Sid
 
Posted by Lanfear (Member # 7776) on :
 
I thought it was common knowleadge that all the lead characters would be white, I guess i just read t he posts regarding it wrong. I didnt mean to accuse.

Some interesting stuff here
 
Posted by Sid Meier (Member # 6965) on :
 
I made a point?
 
Posted by johnsonweed (Member # 8114) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by Remnant:

The movie could be 10 hours long, with monkey's playing the lead rolls and Kenny G doing the soundtrack, and OSC's fanbase would still be there. Its the rest of the world that needs targeting for a successful movie (and dare I say franchise? Oh yes. I dare.)


That's what Warner Brothers thought about The Queen of the Damned! Anee Rice fans can be a peculiar bunch, and they are very loyal, but they were not "there." The movie flopped (and with good reason).
 
Posted by thegameiam (Member # 7305) on :
 
quote:
The movie could be 10 hours long, with monkey's playing the lead rolls and Kenny G doing the soundtrack, and OSC's fanbase would still be there. Its the rest of the world that needs targeting for a successful movie (and dare I say franchise? Oh yes. I dare.)
Kenny G... brrr...

Well, I don't know about the rest of the soundtrack, but speaking of "Franchise," I can contribute one song:

http://cdbaby.com/mp3lofi/thefranchise-04.m3u

[Smile]

-David Barak
 
Posted by Shan (Member # 4550) on :
 
Gone with the Wind was over four hours long and a half hour intermission, back in the 30's.

Can't imagine why Jackson didn't go for that - oh wait! That's right! Then what need would there be to buy the extended version after already paying out the nose to see the bigscreen version and then picking up the movie release version while waiting for the extended . . .
 
Posted by neo-dragon (Member # 7168) on :
 
Sorry for being so ignorant about the movie biz, but as long as we're asking questions about the film, I was wondering what it means when it's said that the "option will expire at the end of the year" or something like that. Does that mean that if they don't actually start casting or filming or something by that time WB will drop the project all together? [Confused]
 
Posted by docmagik (Member # 1131) on :
 
Let's say you wrote a story, and I wanted to film it, and I'm willing to pay you $100,000 for it.

However, I might not actually get the movie made for whatever reason, and $100,000 is a whole lot of money. So I'll pay you $10,000 for an "option." Maybe it's for one year, maybe five, maybe some other time period we agree on. It means you agree you won't sell anybody else the movie rights during that time, and I agree to pay you the $100,000 if I do make it.

Even if I never make the money, you get to pocket the option money, and you can then turn around and option it to somebody else.
 
Posted by docmagik (Member # 1131) on :
 
In this case, I think the WB has actually purchased all the rights, including sequel rights, for the book Ender's Game, meaning it's theirs now to do with as they will.

If they, for whatever reason, dropped the project, OSC would have to buy those rights back or convince someone else to buy them from Warner Bros.

At least, this is my understanding.
 
Posted by neo-dragon (Member # 7168) on :
 
Oh, I see...

I wonder how optimistic Mr. Card is that the film will be made within the next few years. Frankly, I'm not holding my breath for the movie to EVER be made. I mean, it's been years and it doesn't seem like it's getting any closer to being made. I'm hoping for the best, but expecting the worst. Then again, the worst thing wouldn't for the movie not to be made, but for it to turn out terrible.
 
Posted by Mallaien (Member # 8170) on :
 
While I was in film school, and well that was about 10 years ago, a 30minute 8mm Film cost about $20,000 to develope for theater use. For this reason we had to watch student films in there negative format. but take a guess on a 2.5Hr color 35mm or 70mm? Worse off are the contracts that basically allow them to rob everyone involved in the film blind.
 
Posted by Mallaien (Member # 8170) on :
 
as for the SF movies, right now we live in a time where the Fiction on the screen is comming from remakes, or dead authors. in the last 5 years alone how many movies have you see from the writings of Philip K Dick, and he still has a gold mine of short stories that will probably be made int movies. Back then he was the flavior of the month, but now we have a H. G. Wells "War o the World" comming out. Science fiction literature takes allot longer to hit the screens then a fresh out of the box Science Fiction screenplay, but even thoes cannibalize there plots or science from writers.
 


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