When Robert Zemeckis' adaptation of Beowulf debuts on November 16th it will be available in 3-D in at least 1,000 theaters.  Even though this total will likely represent less than a third of the theaters showing the film, it will be the largest opening ever in the new 3-D digital process.  Zemeckis, like fellow director James Cameron, is a major supporter of the computer-created 3-D process.  In 2004 Zemeckis made sure his Polar Express holiday film opened in Imax theaters in 3-D (where it proved to be much more successful on a per showing basis than in its conventional release).

With a screenplay by Neil Gaiman and Roger Avary the new Beowulf film, which is based on the 9th Century epic poem, features plenty of fantasy elements and should have a distinct appeal to comic book and fantasy film fans.  In filming Beowulf Zemeckis once again employed his now trademark 'performance capture' process to animate the performances of Angelina Jolie, Anthony Hopkins, and Crispin Glover.