First Look: Ben Kingsley In 'Ender's Game'

This weekend people will be talking about Ben Kingsley, whose work in Iron Man 3 gives the film some of its most surprising and entertaining moments. (No spoilers in the comments, please.) After that, the actor will be seen in writer/director Gavin Hood's much anticipated adaptation of Orson Scott Card's sci-fi novel Ender's Game.

The first trailer for the film will be released next week, and presumably that will outline how the young boy Andrew "Ender" Wiggin (Asa Butterfield) is trained at Battle School to become a possible leader in humanity's last-ditch effort to repel alien attackers. As a pre-trailer tease, Summit has released the first look at Kingsley, who plays the half-Maori veteran commander Mazer Rackham.

EW has this pic of Kingsley, who says,

In the script, which I think is beautifully written, what come across is the authority and mystery. There's quite a lot said about him in the story  before you see him — by the recruits and by his fellow officers — and that's useful as far as preparations.

Ender's Game opens on November 1, with Harrison Ford, Hailee Steinfeld, Viola Davis, Abigail Breslin, Nonso Anozie, Moises Arias, and Aramis Knight

In the near future, a hostile alien race (called the Formics) have attacked Earth. If not for the legendary heroics of International Fleet Commander, Mazer Rackham (Ben Kingsley), all would have been lost. In preparation for the next attack, the highly esteemed Colonel Graff (Harrison Ford) and the International Military are training only the best young children to find the future Mazer. Ender Wiggin (Asa Butterfield), a shy, but strategically brilliant boy is pulled out of his school to join the elite.

Arriving at Battle School, Ender quickly and easily masters increasingly difficult wargames, distinguishing himself and winning respect amongst his peers. Ender is soon ordained by Graff as the military's next great hope, resulting in his promotion to Command School. Once there, he's trained by Mazer Rackham, himself, to lead his fellow soldiers into an epic battle that will determine the future of Earth and save the human race.