Protest Against "Ender's Game"

[The Pecman]

Well, I left out the part about Ender's training with all the other children, plus the fact that there was a lot of information the government wasn't telling them... [secrets revealed in the novel and film]

[colinian]

The November 2013 issue of Wired magazine has an interview with Orson Scott Card. He's asked about the criticism he gets on the web for his personal and political views about gay marriage, and the interviewer asks him how he feels about the backlash. His response essentially says a true picture of him isn't represented by "these comments" though it's not clear to me what "these comments" refers to: The criticism he gets on the web? His responses in the interview? What he's said in the press? When the interviewer presses him to respond to the fact that there is controversy, his response is the same-as same-as: "I issued an official statement. That's really all I have to say about it."

What is interesting in the interview is the discussion about the casting and script for the Ender's Game film. He also talks about the difficulty of adapting a story that essentially takes place in Ender's head into a film that makes sense without completely changing it so those who've read the book won't recognize the film. He (of course) takes credit for writing a script that works for people who never read the book, probably the bulk of those who will see the film. He doesn't address how he thinks those who have read the book will respond.

I recommend that you get a copy of the November 2013 Wired magazine and read the interview, whether you intend to see the film or not.

Colin

[The Pecman]

And in the latest news, box-office predictions for Ender's Game are not positive:

http://www.tgdaily.com/games-and-entertainment-features/80953-enders-game-box-office-predictions

The theory is that it's going to "underperform," meaning it's a $100 million movie that would need to make at least $50M the first weekend. They're predicting $27M for the first weekend, which is not good. The theory is not that the anti-gay sentiment will affect public perception, but rather that it's a big alien war epic with a cast of children, and that's not necessarily a crowd-pleaser. Plus, I think it's more of an intellectual film instead of an action film.

The review in Variety is somewhat positive but not overwhelmingly great:

http://variety.com/2013/film/reviews/film-review-enders-game-1200760178/

They do cite the fact that the movie has an anti-bullying message, though it doesn't mention that Ender solves the problem with his bully by murdering him with one punch in the shower while both of them are naked...

[The Pecman]

And the wrap-up: the movie Ender's Game has been an enormous failure, making just $27 million the first week and plummeting to $10 million in the second week, which is a 62% drop:

http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/thor-gets-a-big-opening-but-is-the-thrill-ride-over?page=2#blogPostHeaderPanel

The above news item refers to the movie as a significant failure, which is not good.

Again, I believe the movie failed because a mass audience was not interested in seeing a bunch of 12-year-old kids fighting an epic outer space battle against invading insect aliens. When you think about it, this is extremely similar to the core plot of Starship Troopers, which had (much older) teenagers just out of high school. That film initially did not do well, either, and it was more about the explosions and the war than the training per se.

I don't think the movie failed at all because of anger at Card for being anti-gay-marriage. But it didn't help, either.

My partner just poked his head over my shoulder and said, "I think success for this movie just wasn't in the Cards."

[colinian]

What a great pun. Thanks! I'm going to use it with a couple friends of mine who are SF movie buffs and love Ender's Game. It'll be fun to see if they catch the pun. They are usually clueless.

Colin