Netflix is Adapting Best-Selling Video Game Series ‘BioShock’ into a Movie
The title, from 2K Games, has sold millions of copies since the initial version landed in 2007.
'BioShock' game. Photo courtesy of PlayStation.
Forget the threat of pesky aliens or ghoulish creatures, the first video game to feature ‘development limbo’ would surely boast the most fiendish puzzle to bother button-clickers in history. It’s a place from which few movies, let alone adaptations of games, emerge from unscathed, and for a long time now it’s been the resting place of a ‘BioShock’ movie.
That is all set to change as Netflix has announced that it will push ahead with a new adaptation of the popular title.
Routinely cropping up on lists of the best video games ever, the first ‘BioShock’ was released in 2007 from 2K Games, a subsidiary of Take-Two Interactive.
Originally created by Ken Levine and his Irrational Games team, ‘BioShock’ is a first-person shooter game where you play as Jack, the lone survivor of a plane crash over the Atlantic Ocean in the 1960s.
He discovers a crumbling underwater city named Rapture, dreamt up by an eccentric business magnate called Andrew Ryan. Rapture has seen better days, and Jack must battle a variety of enemies, like the super-powered, drug-addicted Splicers and massive, diving-suit-clad Big Daddies, to escape. However, Jack’s own mental state and the origins of his plane crash are far from what they originally seem...
The game was a huge success on its initial release and was followed by two sequels — ‘BioShock 2’ in 2010 and 2013’s ‘BioShock Infinite’ — which expanded the dystopian landscape as it combined action, sci-fi and horror, allowing players to stomp about as one of the Big Daddies. In all, the series has sold more than 39 million copies to date.
'BioShock' game. Photo courtesy of PlayStation.
That financial haul coupled with the fan reaction meant Hollywood was quick to come calling, with Gore Verbinski attached to direct an R-rated movie version. But while everyone seemed excited for it, the movie ended up stalling when the likes of Zack Snyder’s ‘Watchmen’ failed to fly at the box office.
Talking with Eurogamer in 2013, Levine explained what happened. “There was a deal in place, and it was in production at Universal – Gore Verbinski was directing it," he says. "My theory is that Gore wanted to make a hard R film, where you can have blood and naked girls. Well, I don't think he wanted naked girls. But he wanted a lot of blood. Then ‘Watchmen’ came out, and it didn't do well for whatever reason. The studio then got cold feet about making an R-rated $200 million film, and they said what if it was a $80 million film – and Gore didn't want to make a $80 million film.”
Verbinski stepped away from directing and Juan Carlos Fresnadillo briefly replaced him, but from the sounds of it, Levine and his crew weren’t happy, and under the terms of the deal at the time, pulled the plug.
Now, though, those involved are much more upbeat about the chances.
"Netflix is among the best and most forward-thinking storytellers in all of entertainment today,” 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.” He adds that the company is also in development on the next iteration of the game series.
No writer or director is on board yet, though the streaming service and the games company have been working this deal out for almost a year. You can certainly see the potential, though – with Netflix’s resources and platform, ‘BioShock’ could end up with its own movie and TV universe…
'BioShock' game. Photo courtesy of PlayStation.
