Beowulf is a 2007 fantasy film directed by Robert Zemeckis. The film is an adaptation of the Anglo-Saxon epic poem Beowulf and was made using a special technique of digitally enhanced live action. Beowulf will be released on November 16, 2007 and stars Ray Winstone, Anthony Hopkins, Robin Wright Penn, Dominic Keating, Alison Lohman, John Malkovich, Crispin Glover, Brendan Gleeson and Angelina Jolie.
While some of the film remains true to the original poem, other plot elements, such as those surrounding Grendel's mother, deviate from the original poem.
In July 1997, New York Times bestselling author Neil Gaiman and Academy Award-winning screenwriter Roger Avary wrote a screen adaptation of Beowulf. One goal of the project was to offer episodes which do not appear in the original poem. This was done in order to offer the filmmaker's interpretation for the motivation behind Grendel's behavior as well as for what might have happened during the time when Beowulf was in the cave of Grendel's mother.
The script had been optioned by ImageMovers in the same year and set up at DreamWorks with Avary slated to direct. The project eventually went into turnaround after the option expired, the rights returned to Avary who went on to direct an adaptation of The Rules of Attraction. In January 2005, producer Steve Bing, at the behest of Robert Zemeckis who was wanting to direct the film himself, revived the production by convincing Avary that the magic of Zemeckis' vision, supported by the strength of digitally enhanced live action, was worth relinquishing the directorial reigns. Avary agreed with Zemeckis' scope, and the two filmmakers, who both won Academy Awards during the same year in 1994, agreed to join forces. Columbia Pictures entered talks with actors Ray Winstone, Anthony Hopkins, Brendan Gleeson, and Robin Wright Penn to be cast in Beowulf. By August of 2005, actress Angelina Jolie had joined the rest in the cast, taking on the role of Grendel's mother. Producer Bing, who did not finalize a distribution deal with Columbia Pictures, arranged new deals with Paramount Pictures for U.S. distribution and Warner Bros. Pictures for international distribution.
At Comic-Con International in July 2006, Neil Gaiman described the film as a "cheerfully violent and strange take on the Beowulf legend", and that Gaiman said Beowulf would be released on November 22, 2007. The following October, Beowulf was announced to be projected in 3-D in over a thousand theaters for its release date in November 2007. The studios planned to use 3-D projection technology that had been used by Monster House, Chicken Little, and 3-D re-release of The Nightmare Before Christmas, but on a larger scale than previous films. Beowulf would additionally be released in 35mm alongside the 3-D projections.Wikipedia
