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‘BioShock’ film adaptation in the works at Netflix

A live-action movie based on the game was scrapped in 2009

By Tom Skinner

'BioShock'
'BioShock' game. CREDIT: 'BioShock'/Press

Netflix has announced a film adaptation of the hit first-person shooter game franchise ‘BioShock’.

The streaming platform has teamed up with 2K and Take-Two Interactive to produce the forthcoming movie. Vertigo Entertainment is also attached as a producer, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

No writer, filmmaker or cast is currently onboard for the project, the outlet states. The partnership between Netflix and Take-Two Interactive is believed to have been in the works for almost a year.

“Netflix is among the best and most forward-thinking storytellers in all of entertainment”, said Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick in a statement.

“We are thrilled that they share our vision and commitment to the ‘BioShock’ franchise, which is beloved by millions of fans around the world. 2K’s Cloud Chamber studio is deep in active development on the next iteration of the series, and coupled with our partnership with Netflix, we remain highly confident that ‘BioShock’ will continue to captivate and engage audiences”.

Set in the dystopian underwater city of Rapture, the original game in the ‘BioShock’ series was released back in 2007.

An official synopsis reads: “In 1960, a lone survivor of a plane crash named Jack discovers an abandoned underwater utopia, only to find out that the mystery behind its creation is much more sinister than he first believed.”

There has since been two sequels – ‘BioShock 2’ (2010) and ‘BioShock Infinite’ (2013) – with a fourth instalment currently in development at Cloud Chamber.

‘The Pirates Of The Caribbean’ director Gore Verbinski was previously working on a live-action film adaptation of ‘BioShock’ for Universal. However, the project was ultimately scrapped by the game’s creators in 2009, shortly before filming was due to begin.

In March 2021, Verbinski told Collider: “There was a lot of diffusion. So, when the movie was shut down, it was literally the conversation that I had. The brutally honest conversation I had saying, don’t buy the rights, I just want you to be clear. This is a $200million, R-rated [movie]. We were now about to start shooting a $200million R-rated movie and they chickened out.

“I think, ‘Watchmen’ had just come out right before that or something. So, there was a little bit of, these movies need to be PG-13. If they cost that much, they need to be PG-13.”