Beowulf (2007)

[Chryse]

There's a thread for Beowulf and Grendel but I didn't see a thread for this one, the Zemeckis/Avary/Gaiman version that's in preproduction. (Unless I screwed up the search function or something.) Gaiman just posted some interesting casting news.

First, though, here's the skinny: It's motion capture/CG, apparently to be done in a style appropriate for a dark age saga. Script by Roger Avary and Neil Gaiman. It'll cover the entire poem, from beginning to end, up to and including the big fight with the dragon.

Previously announced cast members include: Anthony Hopkins, Ray Winstone, Robin Wright Penn and Brendan Gleason. Now Fango's reported that Crispin Glover's been cast as Grendel, which could be interesting. I could see him coming up with some funky, sinuous body language. Don't know who else is playing what. Hope Gleason gets the lead.

Article on Glover's casting here:http://www.fangoria.com/news_article.php?id=4496. And one on Roger Avary's involvement here: http://www.fangoria.com/news_article.php?id=3743.

(And on a side note, I went to imdb to see if they said anything about who's playing what. Peeked at the message board posts, saw these post titles: "What is Beowulf?" and "Who wrote this book?" Just in case, though, here's the Wikipedia entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beowulf And for good measure, a translation of the text can be downloaded from Project Gutenberg)

[Midori no Saru]

This sounds fascinating. I nearly studied Beowulf as a specialisation in the second year of my degree, but since the guy taking the course was fairly incoherent I changed to Renaissance literature instead, since confirmed as a good move by my class-mates who did not opt to transfer

Although Wikipedia states that The poem is the only substantial Old English poem to survive that addresses matters heroic rather than Christian., many commentators have read it as a Christian allegory, along with critiques of Kingship - i.e. a hero makes a poor king.

Should be good.

[dfd3657]

For a second there, I thought this was about the HORRIBLE Christopher Lambert movie Beowulf. What a way to butcher a classic story. But I'm looking forward to this version. I hope they can do it justice.

[randomizer]

It could be cool... It could be fantastic even.... Neil Gaiman is a skillfull man, I don't know anything about Roger Avary though :/ Should I?
But it could also be a silly, stupid action fantasy movie. I wish them luck with the production anyway ^_^

[Chryse]

Originally Posted by randomizer

It could be cool... It could be fantastic even.... Neil Gaiman is a skillfull man, I don't know anything about Roger Avary though :/ Should I?

Co-wrote a little-known indie film called Pulp Fiction among other things. He was also the original impetus for the project, originally planning to direct it, and was the one who brought Gaiman in.

In the latest update, they will not be wearing helmets with big, pointy pointy horns.

[randomizer]

Chryse: yeah, I check imdb, sorry for my lack of knowledge.

Nice to hear about the no-helmets-with-big-pointy-horns anyway.. that would have been too silly and untrue.

[Mandi Apple]

All this talk of pointy helmets is making me and Alex want to post this pic:



Let us hope it does NOT turn out like this.

[Midori no Saru]

The Geat people would have been similar to Vikings wouldn't they? Sort of that neck of the woods, anyway. The Vikings didn't have helmets with horns, though a look at the helmet in the Sutton Hoo burial monument might be a good model for the look of the warriors.

[Chryse]

More casting news is out.

Ray Winstone as Beowulf. Angelina Jolie as Grendel's mother (which means we get Americans playing the bad buys, Brits the good guys for a change). And along with Anthony Hopkins and Brendan Gleeson are Robin Wright Penn, John Malkovich, and Alison Lohman.

There's a couple of new entries on the film in Gaiman's journal in the past week or so, including something about the approach they took in adaptation.

[Yani]

That's impressive casting, although I'm not excited about Angelina Jolie being in it.

[Chryse]

I dunno, they're supposed to make it pretty stylized. Plus, how often do we get an animated movie that's not a kids movie?

[Midori no Saru]

Originally Posted by Chryse

I dunno, they're supposed to make it pretty stylized. Plus, how often do we get an animated movie that's not a kids movie?

Well there's lots in anime - Ghost in the Shell, Perfect Blue and many others, plus all the hentai

If done right, an animation of Beowulf would be perfect to capture the other-worldliness of it all. With the three monsters in the story, even a life action film would have to be heavily reliant on CGI anyway - plus the backgrounds.