'Ender's Game' Eyes 'Hugo' Star Asa Butterfield

[NelsonG]

[img]http://mtv.mtvnimages.com/shared/promoimages/movies/b/boy_in_the_striped_pjs/striped_loder_110608/281x211.jpg?quality=0.85[/img]"Ender's Game" is finally close to finding its Ender.

"[url="http://www.mtv.com/movies/movie/453640/moviemain.jhtml"]Hugo[/url]" star [url="http://www.mtv.com/movies/person/487490/personmain.jhtml"]Asa Butterfield[/url] has been offered the role of the title character in the upcoming adaptation of Orson Scott Card's classic sci-fi novel, [url="http://www.deadline.com/2011/11/hugo-star-asa-butterfield-the-choice-for-enders-game/"]Deadline[/url] reports. I guess all it takes is being a 14-year-old who has already headlined a Martin Scorcese film to convince studio execs that you're an actor to balance a potential franchise on!

Butterfield is the first -- and most important -- actor to be brought on board the project, though more casting announcements are likely soon to follow. The film, which will be [url="http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2010/09/21/gavin-hood-attached-to-write-direct-enders-game-adaptation/"]directed by "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" helmer Gavin Hood[/url], is still in early pre-production stages.

Ender is a young boy tapped to join a military training program in the near future. He quickly excels under the tutelage of his peers and becomes a leader in the fight against an alien species that previously attacked Earth. But not all is as it appears, and it turns out that there is much more at stake than just who wins or loses in the military's training games.

The script for "Ender's Game" was originally written by Card but was rewritten by Hood and then by "Star Trek" dynamic duo Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman. [url="http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2011/04/29/the-hangover-part-ii-lawsuit-poster/"]Summit Entertainment is producing the flick[/url], and it will likely start filming in early 2012.

Summit's intention is likely to turn "Ender's Game" into a franchise if the first film is successful. If that's the case, filming will likely have to occur for "Ender's Game," "Speaker of the Dead," "Xenocide" and "Children of the Mind" over the next few years to prevent Butterfield from aging too much.

[i]Do you think Butterfield will make a good Ender Wiggin? Tell us in the comments section below or on [url="http://twitter.com/mtvmoviesblog"]Twitter[/url]![/i]



[url=http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2011/11/18/enders-game-eyes-hugo-star-asa-butterfield/]View the full article[/url]