Oh, they’re still trying to make Gears of War a movie, eh? Universal has been behind this effort for about as long as the video game shooter franchise has been around, with multiple writers hired to take a crack at it. Nearly ten years Len Wiseman of Underworld fame was going to direct it from a script by Stuart Beattie, a solid enough duo to have some marginally high expectations. But that fell apart, and last year Shane Salerno (of James Cameron’s Avatar sequels) was brought on to write a new script. Well, that version is also out, and now a new writer with a spotty track record has been brought on to give it a shot.
XXX: The Return of Xander Cage and Collide writer F. Scott Frazier will write Gears of War, based on the hit action video games. The story is simple enough and could make for an awesome Battle: Los Angeles-style flick. The story follows a team of elite soldiers who take up a last-ditch mission to stop the Locust Horde, a subterranean alien race that has declared war on humanity.
Neither of those credits speak well to Frazier’s screenwriting skills, but they may be perfect for a movie like Gears of War which should be a massive spectacle without a lot of nuances. We’ll know if things are moving along smoothly if a new director is named, but until then I think it’s fair to remain skeptical. [TheWrap]
