The Los Angeles Times has a first look at Robert Zemeckis’ Beowulf. The article includes two brand spanking new images (seen above and to the right). Here is an interesting clipping from the newspaper’s feature:

His knack for a good scrap is on show in one of the film’s pivotal fight scenes when Beowulf battles Grendel in the nude, mano a beast-o. (”Bob asked if he had to be nude, but we said, ‘It’s in the poem,’ ” Gaiman explained.) So in a crafty bit of staging to allow a PG-13 rating, Beowulf’s naughty bits are obfuscated by random objects in the foreground. It’s more subtle and subdued, but shadows, swords, mead flagons and shoulders block all in a sequence not unlike the prankish cloaking device used in “Austin Powers” films.

The article does say that there has been some talk about releasing an unrated version with more violence, blood, swearing and nudity (presumably on DVD). The movie was “performed” in 30 days of “principal mocapography” at Culver Studios on a 30-by-30-foot stage using motion capture which was recorded by dozens of digital cameras back in December 2005. Read the whole article at LATimes.com. We’ll see the 3D footage tonight and report back.