Producer Wyck Godfrey talked to Coming Soon recently and confirmed that the Gears script is ready to go and they’ll be announcing the director very soon. Underworld director Len Wiseman was attached to this for a while but has since moved on. As of right now a 2010 release is planned, but it depends on how quickly production starts up.
Granted, most of what makes the game so great is how cinematic it looks, so translating it to screen should be pretty simple, which is why more intelligence will be necessary to make it a good flick. Pirates of the Caribbean screenwriter Stuart Beattie worked with head game designer Cliff Bleszinski on the script, so hopefully that won’t be a problem.
Gears of War 2, the game, is set for release this November.