"Beowulf," the scourge of high school English students everywhere, is receiving the on-screen treatment yet again. U.K. television network ITV has ordered a new adaptation of the classic epic poem, which will be split into 13 episodes, according to the A.V. Club (via Variety).
This new adaptation comes from Tim Haines, Katie Newman and "Strike Back's" James Dormer and will be shot on location in Durham and Northumberland in England. Dormer says of the project: "Hundreds of years ago our ancestors listened to the story of 'Beowulf' because it was a great adventure story... it scared them, thrilled them, made them laugh and cry. But they also listened because they recognized themselves and their fears in it. By holding a mirror up to them this story helped define them and, thus, us. So it's incredibly exciting to have the opportunity to make it relevant again for a wide audience...to let them own it again. To let them see themselves in it."
The series will start off with a first episode that finds the warrior Beowulf paying his respects in Herot Hall to the Thane, Hrothgar, who raised him. But the "demon grim" Grendel attacks Herot, leaving Beowulf with no choice but to track down the monster and destroy it.
Filming is set to begin in April 2015, however there are no casting details or scheduled air dates yet.
The last major adaptation of the Old English epic was Robert Zemeckis' 2007 film with a script by Neil Gaiman and Ray Winstone in the title role. That adaptation took a motion-capture, CGI-animated approach to the source material, which, while well-received, still had to contend with the oddities of animating human characters. This new adaptation appears to be keeping things more grounded in its approach, which is probably the best way to go.
