Corona | Coming Attractions

BioShock game maker Ken Levine was recently asked about the status of the BioShock movie and if it's still trapped in development hell. Levine's answer was more telling about his need to see any movie get made:

"We got very close to having it get made – we had a deal in place and a director. But for us there's no burning [desire] to have a movie made just to get it made," Levine said to the IndustryGamers website. "For us and for Take-Two, it's really got to be something that will a) give the fans something that they want, and b) for those who don't know BioShock, really introduce them to something that is consistent with the game, and is it going to be a good representation of the game."

Elaborating further on the matter, Levine added "There are differences between games and movies, no doubt, but the movie has to draw from the same DNA in terms of the world and the story beats. But you know, we don't have a need to get it made."

It's been a while since any news concerning the BioShock movie came out. IGN corrected that problem last week when they interviewed Gore Verbinski about the status of the project and whether the disappointing box office from the last gamerflick, Prince of Persia, has slowed down his project's momentum.

"We're working trying to make it," Verbinski told the website. "The problem with BioShock was: R-rated movie, underwater, horror. It's a really expensive R-rated movie. So we're trying to figure out a way working with [director] Juan Carlos [Fresnadillo] to get the budget down and still keep so it's true to the core audience, you know? The thing is it has to be R, a hard R."

When asked if Prince of Persia's small returns has dampened the enthusiasm BioShock's movie makers have, Verbinski said absolutely not. "No, I think BioShock's a rare one because it's actually a great story... I don't want to make movies based on videogames, but BioShock's the one Oedipal, crazy kind of -- it's just got really good bones, and we're really trying to figure out a way to make it work."

28 Weeks Later helmer Juan Carlos Fresnadillo has replaced Gore Verbinski as director of Universal's Bioshock film. The reason for the change of battle commander, says Variety, is that Verbinski didn't want to shoot Bioshock overseas because it would take him away from developing his animated project Rango. The studio plans on filming the movie outside of America to take advantage of tax credits and a better currency exchange rate. Verbinski will remain a producer on the project through his Blind Wink Productions company.

Gore Verbinski might not direct the Bioshock movie after all. In an interview with the Los Angeles Times newspaper the director answers the reporter's question about what's happening with the gamerflick. "The bottom line is it has to shoot out of the States for budget reasons and my schedule may be prohibitive," he states. "There's a great script and a really interesting cast. It really comes down to the financial model now. Big movies are just not being shot in the States. I'm weighing whether I can physically go the U.K. or Australia or one of those other places with a tax rebate for a year-and-a-half."

So who's in this cast that Verbinski is keeping quiet about?

Wentworth Miller, that guy from Fox's soon-to-be over TV show Prison Break, told his Twitter followers that he may have a new job lined up. Take a guess what project he's hinting at with his tweet: "Prison Break may be ending, but I've got things in the works. Hint...one word: Bioshock."

Universal has put the development of its Bioshock film on hold as director Gore Verbinski and the studio find a way to deflate the picture's ballooning budget. According to Variety the film was careering up towards a cost of $160 million dollars. Universal and Verbinski are contemplating filming the movie outside of Los Angeles, perhaps in London, to take advantage of the tax benefits that international Hollywood productions enjoy. Insiders privy to the production told Variety that this delay doesn't spell the beginning of the end for the film like the fate that befell the Halo video game movie; Universal wants to make the Bioshock film but merely needs to find a way to make it more affordable.

Universal has won the cinematic rights to Take-Two's bestselling video game Bioshock and hired Pirates of the Caribbean director Gore Verbinski to direct it. Screenwriter John Logan is in negotiations to adapt the game's storyline. Take-Two Interactive has also cut a sweet deal with Universal and used what happened with Universal's ill-fated Halo movie project to ensure that the Bioshock film doesn't fall into turnaround.

"I think the whole utopia-gone-wrong story that's cleverly unveiled to players is just brimming with cinematic potential," Verbinski told Variety. "Of all the games I've played, this is one that I felt has a really strong narrative."