Second Life Going to the Big Screen?

Pirates of the Caribbean director Gore Verbinski has reportedly purchased rights to a Wall Street Journal story about a married man in a virtual relationship.

The entertainment publication Variety reports that Pirates of the Caribbean director Gore Verbinski may be working to bring the Second Life virtual world to the big screen…although perhaps not in a way that would please Linden Labs. According to the paper, Verbinski and Universal have acquired the rights to a 2007 Wall Street Journal article detailing the case of a 53 year-old, married man who spent as much as 20 hours a day in Second Life, where he played the role of a buffed-out entrepreneur…with his own virtual relationship.

Verbinski apparently plans to direct the film; Steven Knight (screenwriter for Eastern Promises and Dirty Pretty Things) will write the screenplay. The film is expected to focus on immersive role-playing in virtual worlds and the negative impacts on the real lives of players.

Verbinski is currently working on the upcoming film adaption of the video game Bioshock.