Gavin Hood’s upcoming adaptation of the legendary Orson Scott Card (is it too new to be legendary? It’s at least flirting with legendary) sci-fi novel Ender’s Game just signed a new name to its cast, one who’s already pretty legendary in the sci-fi world himself: Han Solo. Harrison Ford joins a cast that already has Hugo’s Asa Butterfield starring in the lead role of military recruit and Earth’s last hope Ender Wiggin, and youthful Oscar nominees like Hailee Steinfeld and Abigail Breslin playing supporting roles; so it’s starting to look like Hood’s sci-fi epic pitting man against bugger is going to have quite the ensemble when it finally gets put in front of cameras. I know that everyone was a little upset when the director of X-Men Origins: Wolverine was hired to direct such a beloved novel, but I don’t think there’s any way we can complain about this cast.
Ford is set to play the role of Colonel Hyrum Graff, the man responsible for training the recruits at the military school Ender attends. He’s a manipulative man who’s plan is to control Ender’s development from small boy into the perfect military commander through secretive and mysterious means. In this world, the human race is at the brink of extermination due to war with a race of alien beings, and it has been decreed that Ender is the only recruit with the potential to bring them back from defeat with his brilliance. I think Ford will be suitably grizzled to portray the man who gets him there.
Breslin is a relatively new name to the cast as well, as far as I can tell. She’s set to play Ender’s sister Valentine, who starts off looking like she’s going to play a small and insignificant part in the story, but who comes back later in the film to be not only a significant figure in Ender’s life (especially in the sequel, if it gets made, but it might be too weird to make into a movie), but a significant influencer of our future society. There’s an older brother in Ender’s family who needs to be cast as well, and they’ll need to find a kid who’s good at playing a sadistic jerk; so even more casting announcements about this one should be forthcoming. [Variety]