MUMBAI: Video game publishers Ubisoft will develop and publish the video game based on Paramount Pictures’ and Shangri-La Entertainment’s Beowulf – the upcoming feature film from Academy Award-winning director Robert Zemeckis.

Neil Gaiman and Roger Avary adapted the legend for the screen. The film is produced by Steve Starkey, Robert Zemeckis and Jack Rapke. The executive producers are Martin Shafer, Roger Avary and Neil Gaiman.

“Ubisoft is excited to be partnering with Paramount Pictures and Shangri-La, and the creative teams at ImageMovers, to leverage the ’Beowulf’ movie assets and storylines and extend them into the interactive video game universe. Ubisoft has quickly become an industry leader in creating high-quality movie-based video games that deliver a compelling experience to both casual and hardcore gamers alike,” said Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot.

Zemeckis offers a vision of the Beowulf saga that has never been told before. In a time of heroes, the mighty warrior Beowulf slays the demon Grendel and incurs the wrath of its monstrous, yet seductive, mother in a conflict that transforms a king into a legend.

Beowulf stars Ray Winstone in the title role and Anthony Hopkins as the corrupt King Hrothgar, as well as John Malkovich, Robin Wright Penn, Brendan Gleeson, Crispin Glover, Alison Lohman and Angelina Jolie as Grendel’s mother.

“Beowulf is particularly well-suited for the video game format. Not only does the film have a compelling story and strong visual style that will translate well into a game, but because the film is entirely digital, we are able to share our assets with Ubisoft. Audiences will be able to make a seamless transition between the film and the game,” adds Zemeckis.

The game is expected to release in conjunction with the movie’s planned opening in November 2007.