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Throughout his career, Ford brought his A-game to countless movies, most of which were one-offs that allowed him to come and go without much fuss. There are a few outliers, though, such as Blade Runner, which seemed unlikely to go beyond a single entry. Of course, Blade Runner 2049 arrived 35 years after the original and, despite struggling at the box office, fired on all cylinders. Another Ford vehicle set in the future wasn’t so lucky, as it failed to make any dough and didn’t land with viewers.
Harrison Ford Was Brought in to Provide Stability to a Complicated Story
The late 2000s and early 2010s saw Hollywood search far and wide for stories that could create massive franchises appealing to younger audiences. There was Twilight, The Hunger Games, The Maze Runner, and so much more. None of those movies leaned too heavily into sci-fi elements, so Summit Entertainment saw an opportunity to carve out its own niche by adapting Orson Scott Card’s novel Ender’s Game for the big screen. But the movie couldn’t just cast anybody in its mentor role, as Colonel Hyrum Graff was far more than just a calming presence for the titular character.
Ender’s Game focuses on humanity’s reaction to an alien threat in the distant future. After staving off an invasion, the International Fleet trains gifted children to command their fleet, preparing them for all the different challenges that may come their way in the future. Graff takes a liking to Ender, an exceptional young man who proves to be more capable than his peers. After pushing Ender to his limits, Graff secretly places his pupil into a real combat situation that ends with the aliens’ homeworld being destroyed. The betrayal understandably hurts Ender, and the end of the movie sees him travel into space to give the species he wiped out a second chance. Unfortunately, Ender never got the opportunity to complete his mission because his movie couldn’t keep the engine running long enough.
