the latest news is that zemeckis hired some nerd to direct beowulf, then took over as director when the nerd flopped. this was in a positive review of the film, IMVHO planted by the studio, but it might have been a review by somebody who actually saw the film, for all I know. the reviewer seems to have ignored all the prior films, television shows and novels that were adaptations of the original anglo-saxon myth, even to the point of erroneously referring to it as a "viking" story.