Movies / Features
It's A Real Shame That This Grand Sci-fi Film Never Took Off
This massive video game adaptation by Gore Verbinski sadly never made it off the ground.
It is not uncommon for film studios to announce grand-scale productions that subsequently never see the light of day. A prime example of this is the video game adaptation Bioshock. This project was announced in 2008, but it has (yet) to be realized.
The renowned franchise was set to be adapted into a film, but that never happened. Nevertheless, there is still hope.
The Bioshock series consists of three games: Bioshock, Bioshock 2, and Bioshock Infinite. Together, these games sold 43 million copies, making it one of the most successful game franchises ever.
The games take place in a retro-futuristic America. In the first game, you play as Jack, the sole survivor of a plane crash in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. He discovers the forgotten underwater city of Rapture. Now trapped in a strange and dangerous dystopia, where only a mysterious man named Atlas helps him, Jack has no choice but to fight for survival against the mutated and monstrous inhabitants of Rapture.
Developer Take-Two Interactive announced in 2008 that they were partnering with Universal Pictures to bring Bioshock to the big screen. The project was set to be massive. Universal recruited Gore Verbinski (Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy) to direct and was willing to invest $200 million in production.
Eight weeks before filming was scheduled to start, Universal began to have doubts about the budget. This led to creative disagreements between Verbinski and the studio, causing the project to be halted. Efforts to revive the project with another director were made, but Take-Two felt that this director was not a good fit. Thus, a final decision was made to cancel it altogether.
In early 2022, Netflix unexpectedly announced that they are working on a new Bioshock film. Francis Lawrence (The Hunger Games series) was appointed as director and Michael Green as writer. This new adaptation has also taken some time to come to fruition, but it seems that this will be Lawrence's next project after The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping.
Earlier that year, Lawrence expressed that the film is in active development. You can see in the interview above what he had to say about it.
The renowned franchise was set to be adapted into a film, but that never happened. Nevertheless, there is still hope.
Bioshock
The Bioshock series consists of three games: Bioshock, Bioshock 2, and Bioshock Infinite. Together, these games sold 43 million copies, making it one of the most successful game franchises ever.
The games take place in a retro-futuristic America. In the first game, you play as Jack, the sole survivor of a plane crash in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. He discovers the forgotten underwater city of Rapture. Now trapped in a strange and dangerous dystopia, where only a mysterious man named Atlas helps him, Jack has no choice but to fight for survival against the mutated and monstrous inhabitants of Rapture.
Gore Verbinski
Developer Take-Two Interactive announced in 2008 that they were partnering with Universal Pictures to bring Bioshock to the big screen. The project was set to be massive. Universal recruited Gore Verbinski (Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy) to direct and was willing to invest $200 million in production.
Eight weeks before filming was scheduled to start, Universal began to have doubts about the budget. This led to creative disagreements between Verbinski and the studio, causing the project to be halted. Efforts to revive the project with another director were made, but Take-Two felt that this director was not a good fit. Thus, a final decision was made to cancel it altogether.
Netflix
In early 2022, Netflix unexpectedly announced that they are working on a new Bioshock film. Francis Lawrence (The Hunger Games series) was appointed as director and Michael Green as writer. This new adaptation has also taken some time to come to fruition, but it seems that this will be Lawrence's next project after The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping.
Earlier that year, Lawrence expressed that the film is in active development. You can see in the interview above what he had to say about it.
