Ubisoft Announces Beowulf, Rayman Raving Rabbids 2

As part of the ongoing Ubidays events in the U.S. and Europe, officials from Ubisoft have announced that the company has acquired the license to forthcoming movie Beowulf, and intends to create Rayman Raving Rabbids 2 for release this Christmas. The Beowulf movie is based on the epic Old English poem, considered to be the earliest surviving example of Anglo-Saxon epic poetry – even though the story is set in Scandinavia. The movie is directed by Robert Zemeckis and co-scripted by Neil Gaiman, and uses similar CGI technology to that seen in The Polar Express and Monster House. The tie-in will represent Ubisoft’s third major movie adaptation of recent years, after the critically panned but commercially successful Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and the more equally praised Peter Jackson’s King Kong. The Beowulf game is to be developed by the team behind Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter. Also announced at the Ubidays event is a follow-up to Rayman Raving Rabbids, so far only for the Wii and Nintendo DS. Although eventually a multiformat release, the original mini-game collection was one of the most successful third party Wii games at launch. The sequel is due this Christmas. Further announcements are expected as the Ubidays event continues, with new media already released for upcoming titles such as Assassin’s Creed, Xbox 360 exclusive Splinter Cell: Conviction, Brothers in Arms: Hell’s Highway, Free Radical Design’s Haze and the newly announced Dark Messiah of Might & Magic: Elements for the Xbox 360.