Even though Netflix has been making increasing inroads into the world of video game adaptations, the majority of them have tended to be animated, a list that includes Tomb Raider, Sonic Prime, Castlevania: Nocturne, Arcane, and many more. On the other hand, BioShock is happening in live-action, which is ironic considering it couldn’t escape development hell on account of being too expensive.
Gore Verbinski was initially slated to direct, but even when he stepped back into a producorial role with Juan Carlos Fresnadillo taking over behind the camera, spiraling costs that pegged the project as a potential $200 million investment saw Universal get cold feet and ultimately scrap it altogether.
Netflix stepped in last year to rescue it from the scrapheap, though, with Blade Runner 2049 writer Michael Green and Constantine director Francis Lawrence attached. We haven’t heard a great deal since then, but in an interview with Collider, Green offered whatever tantalizing teases he could.
“You have to measure your words, or you’ll start to see a laser pointer at my forehead from the Netflix legal. Netflix has been amazing about it. They were excited about it before the strike, they’re excited about it now, post-strike. Yes, I got called, the, ‘How’s it coming along?’ the minute the strike was over, ‘You about ready…?’ Been meeting regularly with Francis Lawrence and his team to refine a draft to go back in. We’re all optimistic. We all love it. It’s a great big sprawling nightmare world we wanna see real. So, here’s hoping. I would love to have an update for you soon.”
The potential is there for BioShock to deliver a phenomenal dystopian sci-fi blockbuster with lashings of fantasy and horror, provided it avoids both the video game curse and Netflix’s habit of churning out mediocre and very expensive original movies. We’ll just have to wait and see, but maybe it’s best to keep those fingers crossed.