Eyeing up a potential cinematic universe.
Netflix, hardly a stranger to the world of video game adaptations, has chucked another beloved property onto its increasingly teetering pile, this time setting its sights on turning Irrational Games’ acclaimed underwater shooter BioShock into a live-action film.
The newly announced project is a collaboration between Netflix and publisher Take-Two (the latter is listed as producer alongside Vertigo Entertainment), and still appears to be early in development, with the Hollywood Reporter claiming no writer or film maker is yet attached.
About the only additional bit of intriguing news right now is that the deal was signed with an eye to developing a potential cinematic universe around the BioShock games – which makes some sense, given BioShock Infinite’s premise that there exists an endless number of lighthouses leading to an endless number of dystopian cities across space and time, be that Andrew Ryan’s underwater metropolis of Rapture or the floating city of Columbia.
This isn’t Hollywood’s first attempt at adapting BioShock into a movie, of course; Pirates of the Caribbean director Gore Verbinski was originally set to make a go of it back in 2008, then 28 Weeks Later helmer Juan Carlos Fresnadillo was reportedly attached. However, in 2014, BioShock creator Ken Levine revealed he had personally canned the film project after budgetary and content concerns repeatedly hampered it from getting off the ground.
There’s no indication of when Netflix’s attempt might reach fruition, but with Cloud Chamber’s new BioShock game seemingly well on the way, it’s likely the streaming service will be wanting to get the project off the ground sooner rather than later.
