It's probably a good thing New Line never got their Gears of War movie off the ground nearly a decade ago. Technology has improved that can better bring the best-selling shooter game to life on the big screen. Plus, it's landed at Universal who are clearly making it a priority since announcing it last October.
Universal and Microsoft are getting the ball rolling by hiring Shane Salerno to write the screenplay. Salerno was the writer behind Michael Bay's Armageddon, and is currently finishing up the scripts for all four of James Cameron's Avatar sequels. Yeah, this guy knows blockbusters, and Gears of War should definitely be a blockbuster-sized action flick.
Last we'd heard, the film wouldn't be based on any specific story from the video games, which is probably a good idea if they truly want to expand into a larger franchise. I'm curious to see who they get to direct it, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was a relatively unknown filmmaker who has experience working in the video game industry. [Deadline]
