FILM 2357: BEOWULF (2007)

TRIVIA: Based on the oldest known written story in a language purporting to be English.

According to Ray Winstone (Beowulf), he and his fellow cast spent several days filming in blue skintight suit, "showing up all your lumps and bumps in all the wrong places. Which can be hard when you're standing in front of Angelina Jolie (Grendel's Mother), who looks stunning in hers."

Crispin Glover and producer and director Robert Zemeckis had previously been on bad terms stemming from the decision to use Glover's likeness in Back to the Future Part II(1989) without his permission, which led to a major lawsuit. The two ultimately reconciled, and Glover agreed to play Grendel.

Model Rachel Bernstein (uncredited) was the body double for Angelina Jolie (Grendel's Mother) in the nude scenes.

The first motion capture animated movie to be rated PG-13.

Screenwriters Roger Avary's and Neil Gaiman's original plan was for Avary to direct on a modest budget. He had storyboarded several scenes and had a few European shooting locations scouted. His intended style would have been heavily influenced by Roman Polanski's Macbeth (1971) and Terry Gilliam's Jabberwocky (1977). However, studios were unable to see the potential with his intended vision, so he ended up selling the project to Robert Zemeckis.

This is featured on the podcast Blank Check episode Beowulf with Jordan Hoffman