Gore Verbinski claims no studio will go as dark as his original vision for BioShock movie

In 2022, Netflix announced a partnership with Take-Two Interactive and 2K Games to adapt the Rapture universe for the big screen. This would be the latest, in a new hot trend of video game adaptations to live action movies, especially this year, with Markiplier’s low-budget adaptation smashing the box office and a new Silent Hill movie recently hitting cinemas. 

This, however, wasn’t the first time people were trying to make a live-action adaptation of BioShock. 

Back in 2008, a BioShock movie was announced, spent a few years in production hell, and was ultimately cancelled. The director assigned to the movie, Gore Verbinski, recently shared some insight into the project he said he “loved” working on, in an AMA he did for his current movie, Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die. “I was going to dive deeply into the Oedipal aspect and definitely keep it hard R with the Little Sisters, and the 'choices' the protagonist makes… and the consequences." Speaking about his concept, he explained the “Oedipal aspect,” in which Jack, the protagonist of the game, is under the illusion of free will and believes he is in control of his destiny. 

The Director’s version had a very dark, mature tone, and the R rating was something the studio apparently wanted to avoid. “We were now about to start shooting a $200 million R-rated movie and they chickened out.” the director had shared previously, in an interview with Collider. According to Verbinski, Watchmen's box-office performance was a warning to Universal to stay away from a big-budget, R-rated production. He described their attitude as “If they cost that much, they need to be PG-13."

Though the director’s idea for the film did intrigue fans. "I had worked out a way with writer John Logan to have both endings, and I was looking forward to bringing that to the big screen and really fucking with people’s heads. Had some great designs for the Big Daddies and the entire underwater demented art-deco aesthetic." Being able to accommodate both endings coherently would have been a very interesting feat to watch unfold. 

There is currently a BioShock movie reported to be in development at Netflix, though there’s no official news yet. “Every year I hear something about the project, but I'm not sure any studio is quite willing to go where I was headed,” Verbinski shared. 

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