Speaking to Gamepro, Stuart Beattie, script writer of the upcoming Gears of War movie, said that we can expect something similar to 300 in terms of look. Sorry, ladies and gentlemen of that persuasion, that doesn't mean lots of leather Y-fronts and oily pecs. It means it's going to have the backgrounds put in later.
"That film was shot completely on green screen, which is amazing when you actually see the film," said Beattie. "It's probably how we're going to do Gears of War".
This would make a lot of sense, since Gears of War, the story of a planet plagued by aliens and the army grunts trying to stop them, is awash with creatures and ravaged environments. So it would likely cost hundreds of millions of dollars to do traditionally.
"There's no way to build that world any other way, really," Beattie continued. "That's a huge world. It's a planet and it's a bubble and it's a building. It's an epic sci-fi war and an enormous film. To get it made at all, the only way to make it for a price is to be on a soundstage. But the game also has that look, which is really interesting, so I think it will dovetail really nicely."
Video games are generally not to be anticipated with anything other than vague dread, but this sounds like it might be the exception.