Director Gore Verbinski explained last year why his BioShock adaptation couldn’t get traction at a major movie studio. Verbinski told Collider that producers balked at his suggestion that it was “a $200 million R-rated movie.” However, there’s now one major production company that won’t back down from adapting this critically acclaimed video game series. Netflix has announced that it has struck a deal with 2K Games/Take-Two Interactive to produce a BioShock movie.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Netflix and Take-Two have been negotiating this deal for almost a year. And apparently, their plans are bigger than just a single movie. Their ambition is to “develop a potential cinematic universe” that will be produced by Vertigo Entertainment and Take-Two for Netflix.
Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick confirmed the news with a statement:
“Netflix is among the best and most forward-thinking storytellers in all of entertainment today,” said Zelnick. “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 like never before.”
To date, there have been three BioShock video games. The first installment was released in 2007 as a first-person shooter with players in control of a character named Jack. After surviving a plane crash in an alternative history 1960, Jack found himself in the underwater city known as Rapture. While Rapture was created to be a paradise on Earth, it fell to a civil war as its residents used genetic enhancements to become more than human. Jack also encountered mutated creations known as Big Daddies and Little Sisters, before unlocking his own superhuman abilities with genetic serums.
The BioShock movie doesn’t currently have any screenwriters or a director attached. At this point, we can’t even say for certain that it will be a live-action or animated film. But it’s more than likely that its nearly 15-year stint in development hell is over.
