BioShock Movie Director Gives An Update On How It’s Coming Along And What To Expect

Netflix is making a BioShock movie with The Hunger Games director Francis Lawrence lined up to shoot the film. Michael Green, who wrote Blade Runner 2042, is penning the script. But how is the film coming along and what do the key creatives have in store? Lawrence said in an interview with Collider that the BioShock video game series is both visually and thematically appealing, which makes it a natural fit for a film.

“There’s real ideas and philosophies underneath the game property, and it’s really, really, really thought out. A lot of games may have a great world of some kind, or they may have a great lead character, or they may tee you up for great set-pieces, but they don’t really have the ideas, they don’t have the kind of weight and the gravitas that Bioshock does,” Lawrence said.

The director went on to say that BioShock has a “strange mash-up of genre,” touching upon things like horror and sci-fi, as well as how it’s a period piece. “I think it can be really unique and really beautiful and really entertaining” as a film, Lawrence said.

A BioShock movie was planned many years ago from Pirates of the Caribbean director Gore Verbinski, but its R rating proved to be an issue. Now that it’s being made for Netflix, Lawrence said there are “always discussions about rating and tone,” but he is feeling free to execute on his own vision.

“I certainly have not felt stifled in any way, or sent in any directions with Netflix,” he said, adding that the key creative team can basically do “what we want to do” with the movie.

Additionally, Lawrence said he has been in contact with BioShock rights owner Take-Two and original writer-director Ken Levine.

As for a status update on how the BioShock movie is progressing through development, Lawrence said Green is in the middle of writing the movie. As such, there is a “real possibility” that Lawrence will make it next, but nothing is certain yet. Lawrence is an in-demand director who is also lined up to direct the Hunger Games prequel movie, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, as well as Constantine 2, so it’ll surely be some time before the BioShock movie begins production.

A new BioShock game is currently in development at Cloud Chamber Studios, notably without the involvement of Levine.

For more on video game movies, check out GameSpot’s roundup of the highest-grossing video game films of all time, topped by the Warcraft film.