Sierra / Affinity’s Nick Meyer (pictured) and his team will commence pre-sales on the sci-fi from OddLot, K/O Paper Products and Digital Domain. Summit Entertainment is on board as US distributor and Gavin Hood will direct.

Summit is also in discussions to possibly co-finance the project, based on Orson Scott Card’s novel about a young genius enlisted by the International Fleet to destroy an alien race.

K/O Paper Products’ Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman will produce Ender’s Game alongside Gigi Pritzker and Linda McDonough of OddLot Entertainment, Card and Lynn Hendee.  

The executive producer roster brings together OddLot’s Bill Lischak with K/O’s Mandy Safavi and Digital Domain CEO Cliff Plumer and president of commercial production Ed Ulbrich.

Effects house Digital Domain’s enhanced role on the project is arguably the most intriguing element of the high-powered collaboration. The LA-based company is on board as equity investor and has been an influential force in getting the adaptation off the ground, marking an evolution of one aspect of its business. 

“It comes in part from a trend in the industry where visual development is just as important in getting product greenlit,” Plumer, an ILM and Lucasfilm veteran, said. “For years we have been working with filmmakers and studios on pre-visualisation and we have wanted to position ourselves so that we do it as a production partner on the project.”

Digital Domain has been working with Hood for several months on visual development and went with OddLot to pitch the project to Summit.

Plumer said Digital Domain, whose credits include Tron: Legacy and the upcoming Thor, X-Men: First Class and Transformers: Dark Of The Moon, will announce more such projects in due course. “This is a big priority for us,” he said.