Now that the long-awaited Gears of War movie found a studio home at Universal last October, the project is finally starting to come together. Universal has brought on screenwriter Shane Salerno, who co-wrote all four upcoming Avatar sequels with James Cameron, to work on on the screenplay. Dylan Clark will produce through his Universal-based production company, although no director is set in stone quite yet.

When Universal announced their partnership with The Coalition, the Microsoft-based company that develops the video game franchise, it was revealed that the movie wouldn't be based on a specific game in the Gears of War franchise, but an original story set in this established universe. Deadline broke the news of Shane Salerno coming aboard to write the script, but no story details have been given as of yet. This popular video game franchise has had a long road to the big screen, but now it seems to be on the right track.

We first reported on this Gears of War movie back in the summer of 2008, when Len Wiseman came aboard to direct. At the time, Chris Morgan, the architect of the Fast & Furious franchise, was writing a new draft of the script, which was originally written by Stuart Beattie (Collateral), when the project was set up at New Line Cinema. The project stalled in development for several years until 2012, when New Line put this video game adaptation into turnaround.

Producer Scott Stuber took control of the project in 2013, and since the producer has a first-look deal with Universal Pictures, many assumed that's where this project would land. It took over three years, but now Universal and The Coalition are bringing this video game to life on the big screen. The original game, which was created by Epic Games, puts players inside an epic battle for humanity's survival against the Locust Horde, a nightmarish race of creatures that surface from the bowels of the planet. The story begins on the historic holiday known as Emergence Day, when these unfolds as a ragtag group of soldiers use every last ounce of strength to survive the onslaught from the forces of evil, which begins on the historic Emergence Day.

With no director on board for Gears of War yet, it remains to be seen when production may begin, which will likely depend on how long it takes to get the screenplay into shape. Shane Salerno became a filmmaking phenom at the young age of 19 with his 1991 documentary Sundown: The Future of Children and Drugs, which he wrote and directed, and he started writing for the hit series New York Undercover by the age of 22. His writing credits also include Armageddon, Shaft, Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem, Savages and episodes of UC Undercover and Hawaii Five-0.