‘Ender’s Game’ Continues To Struggle At The Box Office, Sequel In Jeopardy
Fans of Ender’s Game shouldn’t start holding their breath for a sequel just yet.
Director Gavin Hood’s adaptation of author Orson Scott Card’s science fiction novel continues to struggle at the box office. Since the movie is having a difficult time finding an audience in theaters, the folks at Summit Entertainment and Lionsgate haven’t given the follow-up the proverbial greenlight as of this writing.
According to IGN, the studio wants to see how the flick performs over the next few weeks before moving forward with Ender’s Game 2. Since the movie was easily crushed by Thor 2, Bad Grandpa, and Free Birds over the weekend, things aren’t looking bright.
News of the follow-up’s fate arrived during a conference call last Friday (November 8). Variety reports that Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer intends to watch the film’s performance very closely this month. Should the adaptation continue to struggle at the box office, then the sequel may not happen.
However, Feltheimer said that the film was “virtually on base” with the studio’s expectations. Word on the street suggests Gavin Hood spent roughly $110 million to bring the film to life. Although the movie still has a way to go before breaking even, Ender’s Game could break even – or even rake in a profit – on home video.
Although Lionsgate might pass on a sequel, there’s currently talk of transforming the story into a TV series. However, no one associated with the project confirmed anything as of this writing. For now, it’s best to treat this report as a weak possibility.
Ender’s Game made an additional $10 million from moviegoers over the weekend. This brought its domestic total to an extremely lackluster $44 million. When you take foreign totals into consideration, Hood’s adaptation has amassed a wimpy $53 million. While a sequel seems unlikely, anything can happen in Hollywood.
However, you shouldn’t feel too sorry for the boys and girls at Lionsgate right now. The studio is presently poised to make a considerable chunk of change later this month when The Hunger Games: Catching Fire hits theaters. The sequel is presently poised to break all kinds of box office records when it opens on November 22.
The Inquisitr previously reported that the highly-anticipated follow-up could make upwards of $185 million from moviegoers during its first weekend of release. If this happens, then Catching Fire will dethrone The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2 as the highest-grossing November opening. By the way — that film was also released by Lionsgate.
Are you surprised that the Ender’s Game sequel is in jeopardy over at Lionsgate? Do you think the story would work better as a television series?
[Image via Summit Entertainment / Lionsgate]
