Earlier today, Russ told you that Billy Ray will be writing a ripped-from-the-headlines movie about Captain Richard Phillips vs. Somali Pirates. That’s not Ray’s only new writing gig, however, as he’s also taking a crack at the Gears of War movie. Last we heard, director Len Wiseman was collaborating with Wanted scribe Chris Morgan on the project, superceding an ill-liked Stuart Beattie draft. Like that fellow with his One Red Paperclip, this sounds like a constant series of uptrades.

So, how did Billy Ray get the gig?

I’d imagine it’s a case of who he knew, not what he knew. Ray has been working with director Wiseman on Motorcade recently, and it looks like that must have been a fruitful and pleasurable experience for the two of them to choose to do it all over again.

I agree with Russ’ position that Ray is a very talented filmmaker but that the films he shares scriptwriting credit on, which is to say those he didn’t direct himself, turned out less well than those he saw across the finishing line himself. All the same, I think it would be completely pointless to wish for one second that he’d ever take up directing Gears of War from Wiseman. Besides… doesn’t he have better things to do?

I would imagine that Joseph Kosinski would be the fanboy’s choice for the Gears of War gig after his phenomenally popular TV commercials for the games. Myself… I guess I’d have to get a better idea of what Gears of War really entails before I could make a qualified judgment. Something about pressing buttons and things going bang, right? You can tell me if the man behind Breach, Shattered Glass and bits and pieces of State of Play and Flightplan is a good candidate for the Gears of War script or not.

I do know that the game features characters called things like Marcus Fenix, Dizzy Wallin and General RAAM. That must make script meetings a real barrel of laughs.

Story read in Variety.