One of the first major panels at Comic-Con Thursday was for Ender’s Game, the new young adult adaptation from Lionsgate and Summit. But this isn’t just another sci-fi dystopian adventure because of the author behind the novel - Orson Scott Card. Lionsgate has tried to draw attention away from Card’s anti-gay marriage views, but it was unavoidable at the panel, even if Card wasn’t there.
According to Deadline, producer Roberto Orci said that he agreed with Lionsgate’s statement, which was released last week. The studio said that it disagrees with Card’s views and is fully supportive of the LGBT community. It even announced a special LGBT benefit premiere.
“Rather than shy away from this, I would reiterate that we support LGBT rights, and human rights,” Orci told the crowd, since the first question was about Card’s views. Deadline notes that he’d hate to see this hurt the film, since tolerance is one of the film’s themes.
CNN reports that Harrison Ford also touched on the issue, telling the media that he also disagrees with Card, but again, stressed that it has nothing to do with Ender’s Game as a film. He also referenced Card’s statement that the gay marriage issue is now “moot.”
“I am aware of his statements admitting that the question of gay marriage is a battle that he lost and he admits that he lost it. I think we all know that we've all won. That humanity has won. And I think that's the end of the story,” Ford said.
Of course, Ford couldn’t completely escape references to Star Wars or even Indiana Jones. He compared Ender’s Game’s Col. Graff to Star Wars’ Han Solo.
“Graff is aware of his moral responsibilities all through his part of the story. I was just delighted to be involved in a film of such high ambition with such talented people,” Ford said, notes CNN. “I think Graff is a much more complex character than Han Solo, which doesn't mean that I regret Han Solo.”
Ender’s Game opens on Nov. 1.
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