Harrison Ford locked for 'Ender's Game'

FordBreslinAfter confronting extraterrestrials in both "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" and "Cowboys & Aliens," Harrison Ford is ready to take on another alien race, as he has officially joined the cast of OddLot Entertainment's sci-fi adventure tentpole "Ender's Game" along with fellow Oscar nominees Abigail Breslin and Hailee Steinfeld.Also onboard are young thesps Aramis Knight, Moises Arias, Jimmy "Jax" Pinchak, Suraj Parthasarathy, Conor Carroll and Khylin Rhambo.Gavin Hood ("X-Men Origins: Wolverine") is directing from his own script, which is adapted from Orson Scott Card's award-winning novel. Summit Entertainment is co-financing and will release the film in the U.S. on March 15, 2013.Set in Earth's utopian future, "Ender's Game" stars Asa Butterfield ("Hugo") as the title character, a genius strategist who's recruited by the government to help destroy an insect-like alien race.Ford will play Colonel Hyram Graff, who's in charge of training the young male recruits at an elite military academy. Breslin will play Valentine Wiggin, Ender's older sister, while Steinfeld will play Petra Arkanian, Ender's ally and trusted right hand.Knight, who previously appeared in Hood's "Rendition," will play Bean, the smallest new recruit; Arias ("Hannah Montana") will play Bonzo, the commander of Salamander Army; Pinchak ("Let Me In") will play Peter Wiggin, Ender's brilliant but tortured older brother; and Parthasarathy will play Alai, the first recruit to befriend Ender.Carroll ("Away We Go") will play Bernard, the leader of the new recruits who bullies Ender at first; and Rhambo will play Dink, a brainy member of Rat Army. OddLot, K/O Paper Products and Digital Domain are production partners on "Ender's Game." OddLot's Gigi Pritzker and Linda McDonough are producing with Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman via their K/O Paper Products banner, as well as Lynn Hendee, Robert Chartoff and Card. OddLot's Bill Lischak and K/O's Mandy Safavi will exec produce with Digital Domain's Cliff Plumer and Ed Ulbrich. Sierra/Affinity is handling foreign sales for the pic, which will start production in early 2012 in New Orleans.Ford, who's no stranger to sci-fi epics, recently signed on to play famed Brooklyn Dodgers GM Branch Rickey in Legendary Pictures' Jackie Robinson biopic "42." Steinfeld starred in the Coen brothers' "True Grit" and will soon play Juliet in Carlo Carlei's upcoming adaptation of William Shakespeare's classic romance. Breslin can currently be seen in Garry Marshall's "New Year's Eve" and the indie "Janie Jones."Ford is repped by UTA and Ziffren Brittenham, while ICM reps Steinfeld and Breslin, who are respectively managed by Protege Entertainment and Untitled Entertainment. Steinfeld is also repped by Coast to Coast Talent Group. Contact Jeff Sneider at jeff.sneider@variety.com