Science fiction films always have a great drop – especially when they are based on books. Both came together in Ender’s Game: the epic by Orson Scott Card was published as a novel in 1985, and in 2013 the elaborate film was released, starring Harrison Ford, among others. Unfortunately, the adaptation made a bad crash landing. Today you can see the film on TV.
What is Ender’s Game about?
The question of whether there is life in the depths of space is answered in Ender’s Game in a fatal way: an insectoid alien race is invading the earth. 70 years have passed since the last attack. The next attack is only a matter of time.
In order to have a chance at all, the smartest kids are recruited and prepared for the real thing on a space station that acts as a training camp. The assignments are simulated level-like under the instruction of experienced teachers. The toughest and best teacher is Colonel Hyrum Graff (Harrison Ford).
Ender’s Game was a long time in the works… and it flopped
The author Orson Scott Card resisted for a long time against a film adaptation of his story. In 1996, however, he began to write a screenplay himself. A few years later he offered it to the Warner Bros. studio. The script was revised, a project with Game of Thrones creators David Benioff and Wolfgang Petersen was initiated, but petered out. Overall, Card wrote by his own account six different versionsuntil the film was made.
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The film ended up being produced on a $115 million budget and directed by Gavin Hood. The blockbuster was released in 2013 but received only mediocre reviews. The box office earnings also fell well short of expectations: Ender’s Game collected only 125 million US dollars worldwide and is likely to have made a loss of tens of millions.
The years of work were in vain and the novel author saw his gloomy forebodings confirmed.
When is Ender’s Game on TV?
Kabel 1 shows Ender’s Game on Wednesdays at 8:15 p.m. The repeat will follow at 1:30 a.m. that night. You can also stream the film on Paramount+.