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CinemaCon: Lionsgate Unveils an Exhilarating 'Ender's Game' Trailer
by Alex Billington
April 18, 2013
"If you succeed, you will be remembered as a hero." Yes. The moment I have been waiting for. While I've clearly admitted that Neill Blomkamp's Elysium is my #1 most anticipated summer movie, I think Ender's Game just took the crown for my most anticipated movie of 2013. Lionsgate, who now owns Summit, held the final studio presentation at CinemaCon 2013 bringing trailers and glimpses of all of their 2013 movies coming up. But the one that blew me away, the movie I can't stop raving about now that I've seen footage, is Ender's Game. We were the first audience in the world ever to see the trailer and holy shit does it look epic.
There is no video blog this time (this is the only film I want to talk about) and we don't have the trailer yet. During the event, Lionsgate confirmed it will be showing in front of Star Trek Into Darkness starting May 17th this summer, a little less than a month to wait. But it is so worth the wait. They spared nothing, and went all out with this first trailer, showing a LOT of footage, including battle scenes (from history and present) as well as the Zero G battle room and, potentially, his cockpit on the Command School later on. It looked unbelievably epic, even more than the latest Man of Steel trailer, and that looks massive on its own.
I've been anxiously awaiting footage for this since the moment it was announced it was being adapted, and this first look exceeded my expectations (I'm still in awe; I can't wait to watch it on repeat). The battle room and some of the shots there looked 100x better than the teaser poster, and those weren't even the moments I would call "epic". It starts with what looks to be a glance back at the original battle against the buggers that reminded me of the way the Man of Steel trailer opens on Krypton, as well as cool shots of Ender arranging his formations and attacks. That's where it gets epic, in a Star Wars way, and I mean that in a very good, very awesome sci-fi way. Gavin Hood is redeeming himself for X-Men Origins: Wolverine and going all out.
The full trailer begins with a voiceover from Harrison Ford as Colonel Graff explaining the history of the buggers and why they created the Battle School to find and train the greatest commanders in order to never let that happen again. It also has a number of cool shots of Ben Kingsley as Mazer Rackham with Maori tribal tattoos all over his face, making him look like a total badass. We also get a few quick glimpses at Hailee Steinfeld as Petra and plenty more of the kids in Battle School, but it's all about Asa Butterfield as Ender Wiggin and he seems perfect. As Graff states, "if you succeed, you will be remembered as a hero."
I had to make sure I said about how incredibly exhilarating it was to be the first to see this trailer. We truly are entering a new era of sci-fi, and while Blomkamp's Elysium and Abrams' Star Trek will lead the way in the summer, it's Ender's Game that will take us to even new heights this November. Bring on the buggers.
24 Comments
1
Alex, are you OK? I think you may have shit yourself writing that... have you checked?
CS on Apr 18, 2013
2
Good lord that sounds too good to be true. Epic visuals, chilling, effective casting, a really strong scifi vista... yeah. May 17... get here. Now!
Dominic on Apr 18, 2013
3
I can't wait for people to see Sir Ben as Mazer. On our set visit we got to meet him with the tats on and I'm still surprised I was able to speak coherent words.
EnderWiggin.net on Apr 18, 2013
4
No director should ever catch TOO much flack for making a bad film under the Fox banner...they have a habit of diluting the talent of the director's they work with and being over-controlling on their films. Unless it's someone with a huge name who is a very proven commodity(Cameron, Scott, etc)...they just don't give them the space that they need to make THEIR film.
Chris Groves on Apr 18, 2013
5
The director of Wolverine will not get rewarded with a ticket purchase from me.
Scott Meadows on Apr 19, 2013
6
one of the greatest sci-fi classics of all time.is being made into a movie -------------> Wolverine sucked I'm not buying a ticket!
si1ver on Apr 19, 2013
7
The book was a scifi classic.
Cody W on Apr 19, 2013
8
yeah not saying they have my ticket already but we've barely seen anything yet and certainly haven't seen enough to write off the movie already just because the guy directed one horrible movie in his first Fox controlled blockbuster.
si1ver on Apr 19, 2013
9
True enough, Wolverine had some decent action scenes in it at least too
Cody W on Apr 19, 2013
10
Production value looks poor. Feels like a made for tv film.
DeeJango on Apr 19, 2013
11
What production values where? In these stills? You're making gross assumptions about the entire look of the film from a few stills? At LEAST wait for a trailer.
Chris Groves on Apr 19, 2013
12
If the man cannot judge what has been shown up to this point, then why release it something for us to see ?
Tester on Apr 19, 2013
13
I'm just saying that production stills are a very narrow look into the film, especially regarding it's visual scope and production value. Of course a set isn't going to look mind-blowingly expensive. It looks as if it's a school/academy cafeteria...why would it be designed in any other way than cheap and efficient. I don't see why it would need to have some insanely artful production design.
Chris Groves on Apr 19, 2013
14
You can't be serious.....
IamSlave on Apr 19, 2013
15
I'm wondering alex if you don't just get hyped about some of these things because you are the first to see them.
matt on Apr 19, 2013
16
17
Alex, although I agree with the initial post and do believe U do sometimes go overboard, at least U are honest about your enthusiasm and why... I respect this first and foremost and why I enjoy your site. Keep up the good work !!!
Tester on Apr 19, 2013
18
I found this site after my sister ruined the ending of The Sixth Sense for me and on that day I vowed it would never happen again. I've still never seen The Sixth Sense, but Firstshowing has definitely kept me on the cutting edge of Hollywood.
Matt Peloquin on Apr 19, 2013
19
Sounds like Petra (or Ender if you swing that way) was jerking the writer off while he was writing this puff piece.
Agat on Apr 19, 2013
20
Do you know of the trailer features any music from James Horner?
FilmScoreLove on Apr 19, 2013
21
hype much? lol
IamSlave on Apr 19, 2013
22
23
I don't blame you. I'm also VERY excited about this film and agree about this new wave of sci-fi films. It's a great time to be a fan!
IamSlave on Apr 19, 2013
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