Four years after announcing a film adaptation of the BioShock video game, Netflix has updated the status of the project that it’s developing with Vertigo Entertainment and 2K, a subsidiary of Take-Two interactive Software. In 2009, Universal tried to create a film directed by Gore Verbinski of Pirates of the Caribbean fame, but it was cancelled over budgetary concerns and its R-rating.
Then, in August of 2022, it was announced that Francis Lawrence would be directing and producing the live-action adaptation from a screenplay by Michael Green. Producer Roy Lee is now saying that Lawrence is still firmly committed to the project and will be prioritizing it once he complete post-production on Sunrise on the Reaping, the forthcoming prequel to The Hunger Games.
Released in 2007, the BioShock video game is set in the underwater city of Rapture, a utopian locale that was discovered by a plane-crash survivor named jack. Although a sequel titled BioShock Infinite, was later released, the new film is going to be a direct adaptation of the original game. Cloud Chamber Studios is reportedly developing another sequel of the game that may make its debut around the time the upcoming film will be released in 2027 or 2028.
Andrew Kevin Walker was quoted in Collider as saying: “We’re just waiting for him [Francis Lawrence] to finish post-production, because he’s going to be working on it through at least September, and then jump back into it. I know that Netflix and Take-Two are very anxious to see the movie come out because they want to have the release coincide with some of the potential new incarnations of the game.”
Strauss Zelnick, the CEO and chairman of 2K, serves as executive producer of the BioShock project. He issued the following statement this week: “Netflix is among the best and most forward-thinking storytellers in all of entertainment today. We are thrilled that they share our vision and commitment to the BioShock franchise… we remain highly confident that BioShock will continue to captivate and engage audiences like never before.”
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