After a month of speculation, it’s now official! Sir Ben Kingsley will be reuniting with his ‘Hugo’ co-star Asa Butterfield to star in the movie ‘Ender’s Game.’

As reported last month, Kingsley has been in talks to play Mazer Rackham, a legendary war hero and member of the International Fleet. For those who have read the book, you know that any more detail on this character’s backstory would be truly spoilery (I know, that hasn’t stopped me before) but let’s just say that his character is significant in the training of Ender (played by Butterfield).

Also signed on is Brandon Soo Hoo who is pegged to play Fly Molo. In the book, Fly Molo was a Filipino soldier part of Ender’s Jeesh. Soo Hoo has appeared as the young drug lord in ‘Tropic Thunder’ and as young Storm shadow in ‘G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra.’ Currently he can be seen on Nickelodeon’s show ‘Supra Ninjas.’

The addition of Kingsley is exciting news as he is such an accomplished actor and a great addition to any film. To have him in ‘Ender’s Game’ just seems to elevate the movie just a little bit. Filming for ‘Ender’s Game’ will begin sometime next month in New Orleans with the movie slated to be released on March 15, 2013.

Here’s a synopsis of the film:

In order to develop a secure defense against a hostile alien race’s next attack, government agencies breed child geniuses and train them as soldiers. A brilliant young boy, Andrew “Ender” Wiggin lives with his kind but distant parents, his sadistic brother Peter, and the person he loves more than anyone else, his sister Valentine. Peter and Valentine were candidates for the soldier-training program but didn’t make the cut–young Ender is the Wiggin drafted to the orbiting Battle School for rigorous military training.

Ender’s skills make him a leader in school and respected in the Battle Room, where children play at mock battles in zero gravity. Yet growing up in an artificial community of young soldiers Ender suffers greatly from isolation, rivalry from his peers, pressure from the adult teachers, and an unsettling fear of the alien invaders. His psychological battles include loneliness, fear that he is becoming like the cruel brother he remembers, and fanning the flames of devotion to his beloved sister.

Is Ender the general Earth needs? But Ender is not the only result of the genetic experiments. The war with the Buggers has been raging for a hundred years, and the quest for the perfect general has been underway for almost as long. Ender’s two older siblings are every bit as unusual as he is, but in very different ways. Between the three of them lie the abilities to remake a world. If, that is, the world survives.

What do you think of the news that Kingsley is now playing Rackham?

Source: Deadline