Gore directs Bioshock!

This is slightly unexpected, but certainly exciting: the outstanding videogame BIOSHOCK is on the way as a live-action feature film! And with someone who knows his way around special effects on a grand scale: director Gore Verbinski.

The guy who crafted three highly profitable and increasingly colossal PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN movies will adapt the game for Universal (where, coincidentally, the HALO movie went tits-up). Writer John Logan (GLADIATOR, THE AVIATOR) is working on the script.

The captivating game, set in the 1960s, follows a man whose plane crashes near the underwater art-deco city called Rapture. Built by a wealthy businessman as a sanctuary for brilliant scientists and artists to freely practice their crafts, Rapture fell into chaos as the inhabitants slowly became obsessed with genetic modification.

The publisher Take Two held tightly to their golden property, waiting until it deservedly won accolades before considering what could turn out to be the most lucrative game-to-film deal ever. Another positive sign is that the company chairman Strauss Zelnick didn’t want to go through a producer: “It’s terribly important to us to have a meaningful influence on how this project is produced. We didn’t want any insulation between us.”

Verbinski (a gamer himself) is producing as well as directing, and has been consulting with the game’s creative director Ken Levine. Verbinski reassuringly discusses his interest and involvement
RIGHT HERE.

A videogame sequel to BIOSHOCK is already in the works.