Roger Avary was on hand at Comic Con alongside Neil Gaiman. The duo penned the script for Paramount’s Beowulf for director Robert Zemeckis to turn into the creepy motion capture look he used for Polar Express. Avary was geeking out about it and how excited he was that he was seeing his vision on the screen, which now has me a bit worried about anything he will touch because I wasn’t particularly impressed.
In any case, it seems producer Samuel Hadida likes what Avary offers as he has brought Avary on to write and direct a feature film adaptation of the ID Software video game Return to Castle Wolfenstein. I will admit that Avary’s track record isn’t terrible and it is hard to judge him solely on Beowulf, especially since I have only seen about 20 minutes of the film. Then again, it isn’t Avary’s writing I have a problem with, I am just worried about what he is going to do behind the camera. His only real claim to fame as a director would be the cult classic Killing Zoe and that isn’t saying a lot.
As for Castle Wolfenstein, it takes place during WWII and revolves around U.S. Army Ranger B.J. Blazkowicz, who leads a team of agents into Castle Wolfenstein in order to investigate the Nazis’ SS Paranormal Division.
Avary has had a hand in video game films once before with Silent Hill last year, but that isn’t saying much considering that film should have been far better considering the talent involved. We will just have to wait and see how this one ends up.
