The feature film adaptation of Ender’s Game is undergoing a slight release date shift.  Previously scheduled for March 15th, 2013, Summit has opted for a more holiday-friendly release of November 1st, 2013.  Currently the only other film schedule to open on that date is Roland Emmerich’s sci-fi pic Singularity, with DreamWorks Animation’s Me and My Shadow opening a week later (followed by Thor 2 and The Hunger Games sequel Catching Fire).  It’s unknown why the release date change was made, but it should be interesting to see if Fox moves Singularity off that date to prevent a sci-fi showdown with a beloved literary adaptation.  Hit the jump for more, including a synopsis of Orson Scott Card’s novel.enders-game-book-coverI don’t think the release date move is a bad sign, and March 2013 was already plenty crowded with a slew of genre fare including Sam Raimi’s Oz, The Great and Powerful, Jack the Giant Killer, The Host, the next Percy Jackson film, and Neil Blomkamp’s Elysium. There could have been worry that Ender’s Game would get lost in the shuffle and November is much more wide open, giving the pic the chance to kick off the holiday movie season.The film is currently in the middle of production with Gavin Hood (X-Men Origins: Wolverine) at the helm.  Producer Roberto Orci recently took some time to answer questions about their adaptation and the possibility of sequels.  Asa Butterfield (Hugo) stars as a boy who’s recruited to develop military strategies in an attempt to prepare for an intergalactic battle.  Butterfield is joined by an impressive cast that includes Harrison Ford, Ben Kingsley, Viola Davis, and Abigail Breslin. Read the synopsis of the book below.

In order to develop a secure defense against a hostile alien race’s next attack, government agencies breed child geniuses and train them as soldiers. A brilliant young boy, Andrew “Ender” Wiggin lives with his kind but distant parents, his sadistic brother Peter, and the person he loves more than anyone else, his sister Valentine. Peter and Valentine were candidates for the soldier-training program but didn’t make the cut–young Ender is the Wiggin drafted to the orbiting Battle School for rigorous military training.

Ender’s skills make him a leader in school and respected in the Battle Room, where children play at mock battles in zero gravity. Yet growing up in an artificial community of young soldiers, Ender suffers greatly from isolation, rivalry from his peers, pressure from the adult teachers, and an unsettling fear of the alien invaders. His psychological battles include loneliness, fear that he is becoming like the cruel brother he remembers, and fanning the flames of devotion to his beloved sister.

Is Ender the general Earth needs? But Ender is not the only result of the genetic experiments. The war with the Buggers has been raging for a hundred years, and the quest for the perfect general has been underway for almost as long. Ender’s two older siblings are every bit as unusual as he is, but in very different ways. Between the three of them lie the abilities to remake a world. If the world survives, that is. [Amazon]