This is probably some of the most disappointing news to come along in a while: Ender’s Game has lost its director. Up to now Poseidon and Troy director Wolfgang Peterson was attached to direct, but the director has moved on, leaving the film adaptation of Orson Scott Card’s novel without anyone at the helm.

While Peterson isn’t exactly known for deep filmmaking, his experience with special effects extravaganzas like Poseidon and Troy would have been handy. And, let’s face it, the man who could create The Neverending Story and Enemy Mine deserved a shot at bringing Ender’s Game to life.

Thankfully, Peterson’s departure isn’t sounding a death knell for the movie. In fact, Orson Scott Card has finished the script for the movie and is using the extra time to improve it, while Chartoff Productions looks for a replacement director according to io9. They need to move quickly if they’re going to hit their early 2009 filming date though, especially considering the amount of pre-production that needs to go into this movie.

Meanwhile, Producer Lynn Hendee isn’t spilling any secrets about potential casting for the movie’s young lead. Frankly, I’m guessing they’re going to go with an unknown for this. I can’t think of any early-teen actors I’d like to see playing Ender Wiggin, and I think both the Osment and Culkin clans are out of young’uns.