Information about Beowulf (2007 Film)

Beowulf
Promotional Poster
Directed by	Robert Zemeckis
Produced by	Steve Bing Robert Zemeckis
Written by	Neil Gaiman Roger Avary (screenplay based on Beowulf)
Starring	Ray Winstone Crispin Glover Angelina Jolie Anthony Hopkins Robin Wright Penn Alison Lohman John Malkovich Brendan Gleeson
Music by	Alan Silvestri
Cinematography	Robert Presley
Editing by	Jeremiah O'Driscoll
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures (US) Warner Bros. Pictures (non-US)
Release date(s)	November 16, 2007 (USA)
Running time	145 min.
Country	USA
Language	English
Budget	$150 million
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

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 (utilizing, among other technologies, an advanced form of motion capture). 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.

Plot

Based on the epic poem, the film is about a man who comes to Heorot in order to rid it of Grendel, the monstrosity who terrorizes it. What he does not expect is Grendel's Mother.

While much of the film remains true to the original poem, other elements, such as the dialogue, the emphasized hubris of Beowulf and Hrothgar, the perceived hedonism in Heorot, the span of time before Beowulf fights the dragon, Grendel's motive for attacking Heorot, and the relationship between Grendel's mother and Beowulf deviate from the original poem. ^[1]

Cast

Cast	Character
Ray Winstone	Beowulf
Anthony Hopkins	King Hrothgar
John Malkovich	Unferth
Robin Wright Penn	Queen Wealtheow
Brendan Gleeson	Wiglaf
Crispin Glover	Grendel
Alison Lohman	Ursula
Sebastian Roché	Wulfgar
Angelina Jolie	Grendel's mother
Greg Ellis	Garmund
Dominic Keating	Old Cain
Rik Young	Eofor
Charlotte Salt	Estrith
Tyler Steelman	Young Cain

Production

In July 1997, New York Times bestselling author Neil Gaiman and Academy Award-winning screenwriter Roger Avary wrote a screen adaptation of Beowulf.^[2] They had met and started working on the project while working on a movie adaptation of Gaiman's The Sandman. ^[3] One goal of the project was to offer insights 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. ^[4]

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 reins.^[5][6] 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.^[7]

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.^[8] 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.^[9]

MPAA Rating

Originally there were reports that the film would be rated PG-13, but after a few trailers hit the internet there were rumors that the film would be rated R like the 2006 film Beowulf and Grendel, due to the obvious nudity of Grendel's Mother. But on October 10th, 2007 it was confirmed on the MPAA website that the film would be rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence including disturbing images, some sexual material and nudity.

Marketing

So far there has two Green Band trailers, two Red Band trailers, a TV spot and a UK trailer.

Green Band trailers and the tv spot on the official site here: [1] Red Band trailers at[2](You will need to be a US Citizen and over 18), or on Youtube at [3]and [4] UK Trailer at[5]

Technical Information

• Sound Dolby Digital, DTS, SDDS
• Color: Deluxe Laboratories
• Prints: Technicolor
• Avid
• Kodak Motion Picture Film

Notes

External links

• Official site
• Official trailer
• Second Red Band Trailer
• Ain't It Cool News - Set visit report
• Beowulf at Rotten Tomatoes

•  • [ e] Films directed by Robert Zemeckis
A Field of Honor • I Wanna Hold Your Hand • Used Cars • Romancing the Stone • Back to the Future • Who Framed Roger Rabbit • Back to the Future Part II • Back to the Future Part III • Death Becomes Her • Forrest Gump • Contact • What Lies Beneath • Cast Away • The Polar Express • Beowulf • A Christmas Carol • The Corrections

•  • [ e] The films of Roger Avary
Directed: Killing Zoe  • The Rules of Attraction  • Driver Written: True Romance  • Natural Born Killers  • Pulp Fiction  • Silent Hill  • Beowulf