First Look: Harrison Ford Looks Down on Asa Butterfield in 'Ender's Game'

Harrison Ford looks down on Asa Butterfield in a first look photo of "Ender's Game". The veteran actor looks fierce in his portrayal of Colonel Hyram Graff complete with his sleek military uniform. The picture is taken in what appears to be a mess in Battle School, where Butterfield's titular character and his fellow young recruits are standing up in white pajamas. 

According to Entertainment Weekly, which publishes the pic, the scene in the image shows Ender facing off Graff over whether his emails to home are being blocked. The two characters are "clashing over communication," since they have "major communication issues with each other." 

In Orson Scott Card's award-winning novel, Graff is described as the man who trains the young recruits at an elite military academy. Andrew "Ender" Wiggin, meanwhile, is one of the chosen kids in the military program who soon becomes Earth's best hope to defeat the alien Formic race. 

Explaining the on-set chemistry between Ford and Butterfield, director Gavin Hood says, "The relationship between [Harrison] and Asa was very close, but he didn't overly befriend him off the set. He helped Asa by allowing that slight sense of intimidation to be there." 

To EW, Hood also opens up that there are some parts of the original book that have been changed in the movie. "I discussed this at length with Orson. The decision was made very early on to compress the time period into about a year, so that we could have the same actor from beginning to end," he dishes. 

"We were trying to hit that sweet spot right around 12, which Asa fits in very nicely," he goes on. "When you sit down for two hours, you're just beginning to bond with an actor, and then he changes and suddenly you're bonding with someone who's meant to be the same person, but you know he's a different actor." 

Still, Hood promises that he won't alter the ending based on Orson's novel. "That ending - and the complex moral questions that it raises - is one of the reasons why I love the book. I promise you that it is very much there," he says. 

"Ender's Game" is set in the near future when a hostile alien race have attacked Earth. If not for the legendary heroics of International Fleet Commander, Mazer Rackham (Ben Kingsley), all would have been lost. In preparation for the next attack, the highly esteemed Colonel Graff and the International Military are training only the best young children to find the future Mazer. Ender Wiggin, a shy, but strategically brilliant boy is pulled out of his school to join the elite. 

Arriving at Battle School, Ender quickly and easily masters increasingly difficult war games, distinguishing himself and winning respect amongst his peers. Ender is soon ordained by Graff as the military's next great hope, resulting in his promotion to Command School. Once there, he's trained by Mazer Rackham, himself, to lead his fellow soldiers into an epic battle that will determine the future of Earth and save the human race. 

The sci-fier will arrive in the U.S. theaters on November 1, 2013.

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