Comic-Con 2013: ‘Ender’s Game’ Filmmakers ‘Embrace’ Controversy Over LGBT Rights

"There are a lot more people working on this" than just the author, producer Bob Orci says

The producer and director of "Ender's Game" urged fans at Comic-Con on Thursday to support the movie for its message of empathy and inclusiveness — in spite of the anti-gay marriage views espoused by the book's author, Orson Scott Card.

Card — upon whose 1985 novel "Ender's Game" is based — has been an outspoken and consistent opponent of gay marriage for years. That prompted an online protest, which Lionsgate and Summit responded to by saying the author’s views were irrelevant to the film.

The studio was surely hoping the subject would not come up at Comic-Con — yet a member of the audience asked the panel about it, and producer Bob Orci stepped in.

Also Read: Lionsgate on 'Ender's Game' Controversy: Orson Scott Card's Gay Marriage Views Are 'Irrelevant'

"We support the Lionsgate and Summit statement in defense of LGBT rights," Orci said. "There are a lot more people working on this movie and we'd hate to see the efforts of all the people thwarted for the opinions of a lesser percentage of people behind the movie."

Orci added that the creative forces behind the film would use the controversy as an opportunity to trumpet the real message of the movie — empathy.

Also read: 'Ender's Game' Boycott Protests Author's Anti-Gay Marriage Stance

Director Gavin Hood echoed Orci's comments, and said that what made "Ender's Game" so compelling for him was that it is not a "simple story of good and evil."

He argued that audiences are bored with that — and want effects-laden movies to have a great story and "characters that are not simple and wrestle with their own capacity for good and evil."

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