Summit Entertainment has reportedly stepped up to finance and distribute the Gavin Hood-directed adaptation of Orson Scott Card’s Ender’s Game that was first announced back in September—and given the sluggish momentum of most Ender’s Game adaptation news over the years, this counts as a lightning-quick turnaround. Why the sudden excitement? With the end of its Twilight Saga in sight, Summit is reportedly looking for its next youth-oriented franchise, one that could best the upcoming Hunger Games at its own “kids forced by circumstance to take part in killing contests” idiom by reviving one of the originals, one where the kids are even younger and creepier in their precociousness.
In fact, the age of Ender’s Game’s protagonist is said to be a major selling point, as the series could well become Summit’s alien-oriented Harry Potter, starting off with a child prodigy and following him over the course of five sequels (and four possible spin-offs) until he at last becomes a man. Of course, we’re obligated by the rules of all Ender’s Game adaptation announcements to point out that many directors (most famously Wolfgang Petersen) have folded under the weight of this project—and Card’s copious demands—and with production only tentatively scheduled to begin next year, there’s still plenty of uncertainty here. But given our current fascination with killer kids, there’s probably never been a better time to try to finally make this movie.