Bioshock

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Variety wrote: Fresnadillo in "Bioshock" Talks

Juan Carlos Fresnadillo is in talks to direct “Bioshock,” the Universal Pictures live action adaptation of the Take-Two Interactive videogame.

Gore Verbinski has stepped out of the directing slot, but remains the film’s producer through his U-based Blind Wink shingle. John Logan wrote the script.

Verbinski opted out of directing because the film has been re-calibrated to shoot abroad to access tax credits and favorable exchange rates. Verbinski couldn’t do that because he is locked into directing the Paramount animated film “Rango,” with the title character voiced by his “Pirates of the Caribbean” cohort Johnny Depp.

Fresnadillo directed the 2001 Spanish thriller “Intacto,” and made his Hollywood breakthrough with “28 Weeks Later.”

In “Bioshock,” Fresnadillo is stepping into one of the highest profile projects on the Universal roster. Verbinski came attached as director when Universal made a multimillion dollar against gross percentage acquisition from Take-Two. Verbinski then stepped away from directing his fourth “Pirates of the Caribbean” film because he expected to be in production on “Bioshock” last spring in Los Angeles.

Universal then put the brakes on during the pre-production phase, because the budget rose to $160 million and the studio needed it to cost less. At the time, Universal sources vowed this would not turn into another “Halo” — U and partner Fox dropped out of that vidgame adaptation, which was to be directed by “District 9” helmer Neill Blomkamp with Peter Jackson producing. The negotiations with Fresnadillo indicate the studio is determined to make “Bioshock” — offshore.

Once it was clear Verbinski wouldn’t direct, he and the studio sparked to Fresnadillo, whose UTA reps are in negotiations, but whose deal is contingent upon the thumbs-up from Take-Two, which maintains director approval. Fresnadillo’s producing partner, Enrique Lopez Lavigne, is in talks to become a producer.

“Bioshock” takes place in the underwater city of Rapture, where a pilot crash-lands near a secret entrance and becomes involved in a power struggle.
if QOTSA's "Little Sister" isn't on the soundtrack, it will be a crime.

Re: Bioshock

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yeah, i hear ya, but dude - thing starts with a massive plane crash, swimming to a deserted island, and discovering a secret city under the ocean filled with "zombies", carnival-ish things, mutants, giant robots, etc. i could see it being pretty interesting. i could also see them ruining all atmosphere with forced one-liners and other idiocy.

i reiterate the QOTSA remark.

Re: Bioshock

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Draesk wrote:Bioshock's storyline wasn't exactly scripting genius to be honest. I don't see how this could make a remotely interesting movie.
The mood and setting of the game would make an amazing film in the right hands. I even liked the story, very much so in fact, and I think with some tweaking even that would kick ass.

But as I said, I'm not optimistic about this one.

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io9 wrote:Where’s our freaking BioShock movie? Director Gore Verbinski explains why it’s not happening

Don't count on seeing a horrific Little Sister on the big screen any time soon. Gore Verbinski (Pirates of the Caribbean) was supposed to be directing the big-screen BioShock film, but he tells Coming Soon that it's dead in the water. The big issue: the R-rating, coupled with a big budget:
I couldn't really get past anybody that would spend the money that it would take to do it and keep an R rating. Alternately, I wasn't really interested in pursuing a PG-13 version. Because the R rating is inherent. Little Sisters and injections and the whole thing. I just wanted to really, really make it a movie where, four days later, you're still shivering and going, "Jesus Christ!"... It's a movie that has to be really, really scary, but you also have to create a whole underwater world, so the pricetag is high. We just didn't have any takers on an R-rated movie with that pricetag.
He also explains why he thinks this is one example of a movie that really would benefit from being in 3D, because it could help put you on edge.
i agree with and fully support gore (irony alert!!) and am sad this isn't happening right now. it could be amazing.

Re: Bioshock

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Kind of my fear about Mountains of Madness, too...the studios never want to spend huge dollars on an R-rated movie anymore.

I don't know much about Bioshock but I do recomment this game highly: http://greatgatsbygame.com/
"I'm like a dog chasing cars, I wouldn't know what to do if I caught one. . . . I'm not a schemer. I just do things."

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/film wrote:Gore Verbinski Explains Why His ‘Bioshock’ Movie Never Happened

Way back in 2008, before A Cure for Wellness was even a twinkle in his eye, Gore Verbinski had plans to direct the Bioshock movie. But just as things seemed to be coming together, they all fall apart. In spring 2009, Universal abruptly pulled the plug over concerns about its ballooning budget, and by summer 2009, he’d ditched the video game movie entirely.

Still, that hasn’t stopped some fans from wondering what might have been and how it all went wrong. So recently, Verbinski addressed what, exactly, happened on that movie, and whether he would ever consider returning to it again.

Verbinksi got the Bioshock movie question during a Reddit AMA session. Here’s how he explained what happened:

"Well it’s no short answer to that question but we were eight weeks prior shooting when the plug was pulled. It’s an R rated movie. I wanted to keep it R rated, I felt like that would be appropriate, and it’s an expensive movie. It’s a massive world we’re creating and it’s not a world we can simply go to locations to shoot. “A Cure For Wellness”, we were able to really utilize a variety of location to create the world. “Bioshock” it wouldn’t work like that, we’d be building an entire underworld universe. So I think the combination of the price tag and the rating, universal just didn’t feel comfortable ultimately. At that time also there were some R rated, expensive R rated movies that were not working."

This explanation isn’t so different from what we’d already heard before, including from Verbinski himself — Universal was concerned about the budget. But this offers a bit more context. While Verbinski doesn’t name names, Bioshock creator Ken Levine has specifically cited Watchmen as the film that made studio execs nervous. (And let’s not even get into the dubious track record of video game adaptations, as most recently demonstrated by Warcraft and Assassin’s Creed.)

As Verbinski says, though, there’ve been some recent adult-oriented hits that might make an R-rated Bioshock movie seem slightly less risky to a studio executive in the present day. Would he ever consider returning to Bioshock, then? He doesn’t rule it out entirely, but he doesn’t sound all that interested in the idea either:

"So I think things have changed and maybe there will be another chance, but it’s very difficult when you’re eight weeks away from shooting a movie you really can see in your head and you’ve almost filmed the entire thing, so emotionally you’re right at that transition from architect to becoming a contractor and that will be a difficult place to get back to."

Which, fair enough. Verbinski’s got enough on his plate without trying to resurrect a failed project from his past. Since Verbinski left Bioshock, he was replaced by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, who also eventually walked away. Which, apparently, is just fine with Levine. As of now, the Bioshock movie does not look likely to ever happen.

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guess this is happening again...
THR wrote:‘BioShock’ Movie in the Works at Netflix
The streaming giant and game developer Take Two Interactive have been working on a screen rights deal for close to a year.

Video game franchise BioShock is getting another shot at a film adaptation, this time via Netflix.

The streaming giant has partnered with Take-Two Interactive, the game’s parent company, to develop a potential cinematic universe. Vertigo Entertainment and Take Two will serve as producers.

No writer or filmmaker is on board at this time. The partnership deal has been in the works for almost a year.

Released in 2007 from 2K Games, a subsidiary of Take-Two, the first-person shooter game featured a crumbling underwater city named Rapture, its society fragmented in a civil war with many inhabitants addicted or using a genetically-enhancing serum that gives people powers while also living in fear from Big Daddies, mutated humans who have been merged with diving suits. Into this world is dropped the game’s protagonist, Jack, a survivor of a mysterious plane crash in the Atlantic Ocean.

The game sold millions since its initial release and was followed by two game sequels — BioShock 2 and BioShock Infinite — which expanded the dystopian landscape as it combined action, sci-fi and horror. The title continues to find itself on lists of best video games ever created.

Hollywood came a knockin’ almost immediately, with a feature project set up at Universal and The Pirates of the Caribbean director Gore Verbinski attached to helm. But very soon after, two issues arose that would follow the project for the next decade: budget and an R-rating. Verbinski and subsequent filmmaker Juan Carlos Fresnadillo butted heads with the studio, even getting as close as being months from shooting at one iteration, until finally the game’s makers pulled the plug.

Video game adaptations have done very well for Netflix, none better perhaps than The Witcher. A fantasy series fronted by Henry Cavill, it’s one of the top-rated titled on the streaming platform and has a spinoff and an anime movie in the works.

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How long have they been talking about this? 10 years at least? Gore Verbinski almost made the film at one point, if I'm not mistaken.

I'll believe it when I see it. Also - the game is ALL about player agency and not knowing the truth. How are you going to do a film about that?

Re: Bioshock

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The first post up there is from 2009, and that’s after verbinski stepped aside as director. So yeah, a long time.

Not sure what you mean by the second part? I mean, i understand the words, but so what? Why couldn’t you film that?

Re: Bioshock

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TC wrote: 17/02/22, 07:10:19 The first post up there is from 2009, and that’s after verbinski stepped aside as director. So yeah, a long time.

Not sure what you mean by the second part? I mean, i understand the words, but so what? Why couldn’t you film that?
I mean, it could absolutely be a film. But a big part about the game was that you didn't know you didn't have agency over your actions. And besides uncontrolled ultra capitalism, that's the main theme of the entire thing. Watching a character is not even close to BEING that character. I don't know, I just can't see how this in any way can be more interesting.

Re: Bioshock

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Sure, but it couldn’t be more timely to have a film so heavily underscore the idea that all you possess is the illusion of choice, that we are all being manipulated by our “leaders”, etc. i could see that being an effective reveal. It’s worked in films before. But no, it’s not going to be the same thing as playing the game the first time. Still, i’ve played through Infinite several times and even though i know the twists i still love it. Maybe they should start there.

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I hope they tell their own story in the Bioshock universe, while adhering to the original game (s, not counting B2) ideas of class, ultra capitalism and ayn rand-ism gone bananas.

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13 years later...
Deadline wrote:‘BioShock’: Francis Lawrence To Direct Netflix’s Feature Adaptation Of The Popular Video Game, Michael Green Writing Script

EXCLUSIVE: The long-awaited adaptation of the renowned video game franchise, BioShock, looks to be gaining momentum in a big way as sources tell Deadline that Netflix has tapped Hunger Games director Francis Lawrence to helm the pic with Michael Green adapting the script. The directing and writing assignment had been some of the more sough after jobs in the industry after Netflix announced in February that they were partnering with video game holding company Take-Two Interactive and its game publisher subsidiary, 2K, to produce a BioShock film. Since then, the studio and its partners have been aiming high on who would help guide this project given the scope of the property looking at A-list directors and writers for the job.

The studio has been high on Lawrence since the spring, as he is someone who has shown the ability at adapting popular IP and turning them into global hits. One example is what he did for the Hunger Games franchise after Gary Ross left the series after directing the first film. That franchise became a smash hit and Lawrence has since returned to direct the prequel, Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, which is currently in production right now and will premiere in 2023.

Since Lawrence is currently filming the prequel, the plan is for Green to adapt the script and once Lawrence as wrapped production on the Hunger Games prequel, he can jump right into pre-production on BioShock.

Set across multiple dystopian and visionary landscapes gone wrong, the BioShock video game series has blended sci-fi and horror to pose unique existential and societal questions reshaping how game stories are told—all amidst pulse-pounding action gameplay that rewards sharp shooting, clever planning and lethal improvisation. The award-winning franchise first introduced by 2K in 2007 has sold more than 39 million copies worldwide across the original releases of titles including BioShock, BioShock 2 and BioShock Infinite, as well as multiple rereleases, remastered editions and bundled collections.

Roy Lee will produce through his Vertigo Entertainment along with Lawrence for about:blank; 2K, a subsidiary of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. Exec producers are Cameron MacConomy for about:blank and Strauss Zelnick for Take-Two Interactive.

Besides Hunger Games: Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, Lawrence also has the fantasy pic Slumberland starring Jason Momoa, bowing later this year. He is repped by CAA, 3 Arts Entertainment and Hansen Jacobson

Green most recently worked on The Jungle Cruise and Death On the Nile. He is repped by WME, 3 Arts Entertainment and attorney Patti Felker.