Beowulf Actors Join Game Cast
You know how it works by now: star in the movie, star in the game.
Published: October 24, 2007
To be honest, these days if you don't have the actors from the big-budget blockbuster appearing in your licensed video game based on the movie, it's seen as a bad thing. Not only do fill-in voice actors rarely fit the part if you've seen the movie, but the insights into the characters that the thespians gleaned while working on the movie (or in this case computer generated movie) are invaluable. We doubt The Punisher would have been half as good without Thomas Jane's gravelly-voiced little quips helping things out.
So it comes as no huge surprise that Ubisoft has locked down talent from the Beowulf movie for the Beowulf game -- at least not until you realize that not one of the actors reprising their roles have ever done voice work in a video game before. When you also consider the names that are appearing in the game; Anthony Hopkins, Ray Winstone, Sebastien Roche and Brendon Gleeson (as King Hrothgar, Beowulf, Wulfgar and Wiglaf, with respects), it's actually a pretty big deal.
"This is the first time I've worked on a video game, and I must say it was one of the hardest working days of my career," confessed Ray Winstone after the intense recording sessions for the Ubisoft production. "But it was vital to capturing the power of the film and translating that into a great gaming experience. Beowulf is a brutal character, a Dark Age-gangster with both hero and monster in him ... as a player, I can identify with the monster slayer.”
"These performances stir us like a great soundtrack does - you get shivers. The starring actors lend authenticity and intensity to the Beowulf video game experience, something that was indispensable in order for us to extend the story beyond the movie,” gushed Gabrielle Shrager, writer and lead story designer for the game. "The actors seamlessly translated their characters' depth and emotion, breathing life into their video game roles as they did for the film.”
See what we mean? That moolah spent to hook the actors can come in rather handy -- especially when Ubisoft is trying to do more than just duplicate scenes from the flick. According to the publisher, their Tiwak Studio (the folks who handled the first Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter) is plugging away at the project, adding more to the characters and fleshing them out for the extended length of the game. Given that the movie version is more or less a big ass God of War-style action flick, we're hoping for some good things, but time will tell.
As soon as we do see either the movie or the game in action, we'll make sure we update you on what to expect.
So it comes as no huge surprise that Ubisoft has locked down talent from the Beowulf movie for the Beowulf game -- at least not until you realize that not one of the actors reprising their roles have ever done voice work in a video game before. When you also consider the names that are appearing in the game; Anthony Hopkins, Ray Winstone, Sebastien Roche and Brendon Gleeson (as King Hrothgar, Beowulf, Wulfgar and Wiglaf, with respects), it's actually a pretty big deal.
"This is the first time I've worked on a video game, and I must say it was one of the hardest working days of my career," confessed Ray Winstone after the intense recording sessions for the Ubisoft production. "But it was vital to capturing the power of the film and translating that into a great gaming experience. Beowulf is a brutal character, a Dark Age-gangster with both hero and monster in him ... as a player, I can identify with the monster slayer.”
"These performances stir us like a great soundtrack does - you get shivers. The starring actors lend authenticity and intensity to the Beowulf video game experience, something that was indispensable in order for us to extend the story beyond the movie,” gushed Gabrielle Shrager, writer and lead story designer for the game. "The actors seamlessly translated their characters' depth and emotion, breathing life into their video game roles as they did for the film.”
See what we mean? That moolah spent to hook the actors can come in rather handy -- especially when Ubisoft is trying to do more than just duplicate scenes from the flick. According to the publisher, their Tiwak Studio (the folks who handled the first Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter) is plugging away at the project, adding more to the characters and fleshing them out for the extended length of the game. Given that the movie version is more or less a big ass God of War-style action flick, we're hoping for some good things, but time will tell.
As soon as we do see either the movie or the game in action, we'll make sure we update you on what to expect.
