MOVIES: They're giving Ender's Game a chance!

Well the final cast is taking shape for Ender's Game and it's giving me hope! Against my better judgement. Harrison Ford has been confirmed for the role of Colonel Hyram Graff who oversees all of the students at the military academy which Ender attends. Abigail Breslin has also been confirmed for the role of Ender's older sister, Valentine, who is at times the only person in the world Ender truly cares for. I love the relationship between the two in the book and I hope they strike the right chords on screen. Hailee Steinfeld, the incredible actress from True Grit who I still believe should have gotten the lead role for The Hunger Games (especially after seeing the trailers thus far), will be playing Petra one of Ender's close friends in the school. There's also a ton of great actors and actresses still in talks for other parts in the movie but the point is that big names are signing on and it looks like this movie might actually be getting the star treatment it deserves! Boy am I finding it hard to not get overly optimistic right now.

MOVIES: I still think this is a bad idea.

Ender's Game is perhaps my favorite book of all time. It tells the story of a world that has been attacked by aliens twice and won't survive another encounter. In order to prepare ourselves and try to attack the aliens first, the government has tried to uncover those most prone to be successful militaristic strategists. Any children with the proper tendencies at a young age are sent to a special school where they play games that test them both mentally and physically. Ender wins all the games. We follow the story of Andrew Wiggin (Ender) and find out whether or not he is the one who can save humanity. Sounds cool right? I certainly think so but I still don't know how well it will work for a movie.

However what little news has been released does have me somewhat more optimistic than I was. Asa Butterfield has been confirmed as the lead role of Ender and I definitely think he looks the part. He was most recently in Hugo and although I haven't seen it it sounds like it's actually pretty dang good. Now the rumors are that Harrison Ford may be cast to play his teacher/mentor/general named Colonel Hyrum Graff. I like Ford for the role and think he could do an excellent job portraying Graff as he sees unlimited potential in Ender.

The thing I am still most worried about for the film is that Gavin Hood is directing. Sound familiar? Yea he's the guy responsible for the horrid bowel movement that was X-Men Origins: Wolverine, a film that safely sits in my bottom five movies of all time. But who knows, maybe he'll right the ship here and blow us all away...here's hoping.

Ender's Game is set to hit theaters March 15, 2013!