Several years ago, a BioShock movie was announced. It has since spent a lot of time in between being announced and actually being in production. For a while, it seemed as if this Netflix adaptation was going to end up shelved just like the original movie adaptation that was supposed to happen in 2011. Now, thanks to producer Roy Lee, we know for sure that the movie is finally in active development.
BioShock Movie Finally Moving Forward
In a recent interview, Roy Lee revealed that the movie is in active development, at least temporarily shelving the concerns that it would land in development hell and never see the light of day (again). “Netflix wants us to keep everything under wraps,” Lee said before revealing the game inspiration. “But it’s definitely going to be based on the first BioShock game.”
The first game is one of the earliest narrative-driven shooters in gaming. It redefined what a video game could do with a story, although it has since been surpassed by games like The Last of Us, Red Dead Redemption 2, and Death Stranding. There is a clear and concise narrative, though, in the first game that should make for an easy time adapting to the screen. It’s not a terribly long game, either.
It’s unclear whether or not the sequel or BioShock Infinite are ever going to make it to the big screen. However, as is the case with anything these days, Netflix probably wants to make a franchise out of this, so they’re likely to adapt everything there is within the franchise.
The main source of the current delay is director Francis Lawrence’s availability. The director currently has The Long Walk releasing in theaters right now. He’s helmed all the Hunger Games films, including The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes in 2023. Up next, he’s got Sunrise on the Reaping in 2026, so he’s been very busy.
“BioShock was delayed for a little bit where we had to do some more script work,” Lee said. “And so as the script work is being done, we shot The Long Walk, and he was already committed to doing the next Hunger Games movie. And so it’s just waiting for him whenever the Hunger Games is completed, and the script is just being worked on right now,” Lee said.
Many would’ve expected active production by now, but Lawrence quickly became the go-to man to direct dystopian movies. Plus, Netflix underwent some changes, so it pushed things back even further. “It’s a tricky adaptation, so there’s lots of things to figure out and to get right. There’s regime changes at Netflix, and so things stall out and get re-energized and stall out and get re-energized, and I think we’re in a pretty good place, honestly,” Lawrence said previously.
The original movie was going to be directed by Gore Verbinski, but because of budget problems, he backed out and became a producer. He was working with Juan Carlos Fresnadillo to take over, but in 2011, the film was officially cancelled after being announced just two years earlier. Then, in 2022, this new version was announced with Netflix, but it has sat untouched for three years until now.
Conclusion
The movie adaptation is really, officially moving forward, which is a great sign for the franchise. A fourth BioShock game is also in development, but it’s firmly in development hell. 2K Games has overhauled Cloud Chamber and the game’s script was reportedly rejected, so there’s no telling when it’ll come out. They recently hired someone to lead the development, but that’s hardly inspiring for a quick release, so the movie might end up coming out first anyway.
