Long before we ever had The Super Mario Bros. Galaxy movie, A Minecraft Movie, three live-action Sonic the Hedgehog movies or a revival of Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter, one of the first video games to be tabbed for a spot on the silver screen was BioShock.
Indeed, back in 2008 it was announced between Take-Two and Universal that BioShock would be getting the movie treatment, with Gore Verbinski directing and John Logan writing the screenplay.
“This deal gives Universal the opportunity to have the immersive, addictive universe of ‘Bioshock’ interpreted by a filmmaker with unrivaled abilities to convey story, action and large-scale, fantastical visuals,” a statement back then read.
I’m Fine If The BioShock Franchise Is Dead And You Should Be Too
With the reboot reportedly struggling and the remake canceled, the future of BioShock is in question.
Unfortunately, the film was put on hold, then Verbinkski dropped out, and by 2013, it was effectively cancelled, with Ken Levine shouldering the blame.
“There was a deal in place, and it was in production at Universal—Gore Verbinski was directing it,” Levine said in an interview. “My theory is that Gore wanted to make a hard ‘R’ film—which is like an age 17/18-plus, where you can have blood and naked girls. Well, I don’t think he wanted naked girls. But he wanted a lot of blood.
Then Watchmen came out, and it didn’t do well for whatever reason. The studio then got cold feet about making an R rated $200 million film, and they said what if it was a $80 million film—and Gore didn’t want to make a $80 million film.
They brought another director in, and I didn’t really see the match there. 2K’s one of these companies that puts a lot of creative trust in people, so they said if you want to kill it, kill it. And I killed it.”
Since then, much of what BioShock could have been has been shrouded in mystery. However, in a new Reddit AMA, Verbinski peeled back the curtain on his vision for the iconic video game.
The BioShock Movie Of Our Dreams Wasn’t Meant To Be
In an AMA for his new film, Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die, Verbinski was asked by a Redditor about that fabled BioShock movie and whether it would be more feasible now that Hollywood is seemingly all-in on video game adaptations.
“I loved this project when we were getting close to making it at Universal,” Verbinski replied. “I was going to dive deeply into the Oedipal aspect and definitely keep it hard R with the Little Sisters, and the ‘choices’ the protagonist makes… and the consequences. I had worked out a way with writer John Logan to have both endings and I was looking forward to bringing that to the big screen and really f——- with people’s heads.
“Had some great designs for the Big Daddies and the entire underwater demented art-deco aesthetic. Every year I hear something about the project, but I’m not sure any studio is quite willing to go where I was headed.”
That both endings would’ve been made canon is probably the most interesting thing. It’s also hard to imagine the world of BioShock working in anything but an R rating.
For what it’s worth, there’s still a chance we do get a BioShock adaptation, as it’s currently in the hands of Netflix, albeit in a state of pause.
- Released
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August 21, 2007
- ESRB
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m
- Developer(s)
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Irrational Games
- Engine
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havok, unreal engine 2.5, unreal engine 3, vengeance engine
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