The BioShock Movie’s Turbulent Development Timeline Explained

Summary

• The BioShock movie adaptation was plagued with 15 years of development issues like budget conflicts.
• The movie was revived in 2022 by Netflix with a new director and writer.
• Netflix’s adaptation may face similar problems due to lower budget allowances reshaping the film.

With video game adaptations entering a new golden era of late, many gamers have become more open to the idea of seeing their favorite franchises adapted for the screen. One such project is the BioShock movie, which has been in development for over 15 years but has yet to make it to the screen

2K’s first BioShock game was released to universal acclaim in 2007, with players enthralled by the dystopian underwater world the game presented and its unique combo of first-person-shooter gameplay which is bolstered by super-powered combat. Two BioShock sequels were released over the years, with BioShock 2 also debuting to critical acclaim in 2010, and BioShock Infinite releasing to an even more positive reception in 2013. The BioShock series of games is estimated to have sold 41 million copies over its lifetime, so it’s no surprise it’s been at the top of Hollywood’s list to attempt to try and replicate that success on the film side.

A BioShock Movie Was First Announced in 2008

The first inklings of a BioShock movie came around a year after the first game’s release. In 2008, Variety reported that Take-Two Interactive had partnered with Universal to bring the video game to the screen. Pirates of the Caribbean director Gore Verbinski was attached to direct with John Logan (The Aviator) writing the script. Take-Two Interactive signed a landmark deal that provided the studio with a multimillion-dollar advance against the movie, ensuring that it would not end up in a turnaround, which was a situation the Halo movie was in at the time (another film that also never eventuated).

A year later, Verbisnki dropped out of the director chair, but remained a producer on the adaptation. Universe Pictures selected Juan Carlos Fresnadillo (28 Weeks Later) to replace him as BioShock’s director and it appeared like the studio’s plan was to film the movie overseas in order to take advantage of tax incentives. Over the next couple of years the film faced headwinds in development. The film’s budget was creeping excessively high causing problems behind the scenes to level it out. The creatives also reportedly wanted the film to have an R rating which was making it difficult to get financial backing from the studios.

The BioShock Movie Is Canceled

By 2013, BioShock’s creator Ken Levine confirmed the movie was dead. The reasons were reportedly budget concerns, with Verbinski pushing for a $200 million budget and the studios asking for him to drop it down to $80 million. Levine also cited the change in directors as a hurdle. “They brought another director in, and I didn’t really see the match there – and 2K’s one of these companies that puts a lot of creative trust in people. So they said if you want to kill it, kill it. And I killed it,” Levine said, as per Eurogamer. It was revealed later that the BioShock movie was only eight weeks from filming before it was shelved.

2K’s one of these companies that puts a lot of creative trust in people. So they said if you want to kill it, kill it. And I killed it,

Netflix Attempts a New Adaptation in 2022

After almost ten years, Netflix revived the BioShock adaptation in 2022. A new partnership between the streamer and Take-Two Interactive was announced, with Take-Two and Vertigo attached as the production companies. Shortly afterward, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire’s Francis Lawrence was attached as the new BioShock film’s director, with Michael Green (Logan, Blade Runner 2049) set to write the script. Around a year later, Green confirmed he and Lawrence were in the process of working on drafts of the script for the BioShock movie, with the process being delayed somewhat by the 2023 Writer’s Guild strike. Lawrence has also said he believes their BioShock movie will avoid the video game movie curse.

The last anyone heard of Netflix’s BioShock movie was at San Diego Comic-Con in July 2024. At a panel, Vertigo producer Roy Lee confirmed the film was still in development but was in the process of being reconfigured following a leadership shakeup at Netflix. This changeover also resulted in lower budget allowances for many projects, including the BioShock adaptation. “So we’re doing a much smaller version. … It’s going to be a more personal point of view, as opposed to a grander, big project,” Lee said.

It’s going to be a more personal point of view, as opposed to a grander, big project.

Is Netflix The Best Place For the BioShock Movie?

Over the 15+ years that the BioShock movie has been in development, the landscape has changed dramatically. Where video game adaptations like Doom or Assassin’s Creed were once left to fade into oblivion, video game IP is now a hot commodity in Hollywood thanks to the success of award-winning shows like Fallout and The Last of Us. Netflix is one studio that has been quick to snap up video game titles, but up until this point has mostly produced animated series based on this IP via series like Arcane: League of Legends, Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, and Castlevania: Nocturne. So is Netflix the best choice to adapt BioShock for the screen?

The streamer has seen some success with the live-action adaptation of The Witcher, which is technically based on Andrej Sapkowski’s novel series but gained popularity through CD Projekt Red’s video game series. It also had a live-action adaptation of Horizon Zero Dawn in the works for some time, which is another equally ambitious futuristic sci-fi project. However, the Horizon Zero Dawn series has since been shelved.

Netflix’s Film Adaptation Has Promising Creatives Behind the Wheel

The key players behind the BioShock movie are promising, with Lawrence and Green both coming to the film with a wealth of experience in the franchise adaptation space. It could end up being that a smaller budget ends up being the nail in the coffin for the BioShock film as this was what originally killed Universal’s film adaptation of the title. It could also be the case that, like with Blumhouse’s Five Nights at Freddy’s film, it takes a few years in development for Netflix to get the right combination of story and creative team members attached to its BioShock film. The landscape has changed throughout the years that the BioShock movie has been in development. But one thing that is for sure is that the appetite for video game adaptations on screen is at an all-time high right now, so a franchise as popular as BioShock will not stay dormant for long.