Book is viii + 164 pages, portions unpaginated; b/w illus. The book is a compilation, to accompany the 2007 film release of Robert Zemeckis, dir., Beowulf, of both the original draft of the screenplay (1997) and the final draft (2005), together with concept art, two songs, and various notes of explanation.

The "treatment"—a first telling in narrative form, intended to show a story's potential for transformation into a screenplay—is part of Avary's Foreword to the book (3-13). Following this, the major content of the first part of the book is the 1997 screenplay ([15]-[121]), followed in turn by early concept art for the film ([123]-[132]). A "Middleword" by Avary (135-41) serves as a preface to the 2005 screenplay version ([143]-[260]), which is followed by an Afterword by Gaiman (261-62) and the lyrics of 2 drafted songs by Gaiman, "We Are Beowulf's Army" and "Nail 'Em to the Wall," that were not represented fully in the film (263-64).

The treatment is given entire, divided into short titled sections. In the text around it, Avary explains that he had first mused on turning the Beowulf story into a screenplay in 1982, after reading the Burton Raffel translation. After several other projects, he happened back upon old notes and wrote the "treatment" in 1995. Shortly after this, he invited Neil Gaiman to co-screenwrite, and they produced in two weeks the 1997 draft that is this book's first main content. After several false starts and rewrites with Avary as the intended director, Gaiman and Avary returned to the 1997 draft as the starting point for the Zemeckis film.

The first section of "Beowulf: A Treatment for a Motion Picture" ("The Prologue …"), begins:

A castaway ship of some ancient Nordic design is adrift in a stormy gray sea. Its large swells carry the craft with the current, as the oars are placed straight upward. It would appear that the boat has no crew … and no passengers.

The boat runs ashore and is discovered by a tribe of people calling themselves the "Danes." When the tribe of people peer into the boat, they're astonished to find vast treasures of gold, myrrh, guilded weapons, and gold-encrusted armor. Surrounded by the gold is a young baby wrapped in gold-lined cloth of purest white. The baby grows to become their leader and king. The baby is the Scyld Sceafing. (6; italics as in original; "guilded" sic)

And the treatment ends:

Beowulf is placed onto a splendid funeral pyre hung with helmets and shields. They ignite the greatest of funeral fires, which consumes his body into smoke and flames, There is much mourning and lamenting. The body of the dragon is thrown into the sea, and as for the treasure … like Beowulf's ashes, it lies buried in the earth, even now. (10; italics as in original)

BAM.