As “Beautiful Creatures” found itself felled by Nicholas Sparks' reign of tears and insanity this past weekend, it's back to the calendar to find the next sci-fi/fantasy/YA tentpole until “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire” rolls into cinemas at the end of the year. And in terms of a fan following, you could do worse than some new glimpses of “Ender's Game” and “The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones.”
In terms of nailing the source novel material, director Gavin Hood has been adamant about his adaptation of Orson Scott Card's “Ender's Game” and after the first look at Harrison Ford and Asa Butterfield a while back, a follow-up still featuring Hailee Steinfield has appeared to back that claim. The “True Grit” actress plays Petra Arkanian, one of the few female students alongside Ender (Butterfield) in his training to battle an alien invasion.
Speaking of protecting Earth from outside threats, “The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones” pits Lily Collins as a half-angel Shadowhunter against demons, warlocks, vampires, and whatever else dwells in a bizarre New York called Downworld. Based on Cassandra Clare's series of YA novels, the film adaptation also stars Jamie Campbell Bower, Robert Sheehan, Kevin Zegers, Lena Headey, Aidan Turner, Jemima West, and Jonathan Rhys Meyers, all of whom you can catch in the fresh pics below (via The Daily Blam).
“The Mortal Instruments” hits theatres August 23rd, while “Ender's Game” lands November 1st; by December we'll see if either has the lasting power for a second installment.