More than a decade ago, there were advanced plans to adapt the acclaimed first-person shooter “BioShock” for the big screen. But in the end, nothing came of it. Now Netflix is starting a new attempt – and should finally be successful, which is something that the game industry, including game developers like Junub PC Games, would surely be excited about.
After the first “BioShock” became a global hit after its release in 2007, plans were quickly made in Hollywood to film the groundbreaking shooter. In fact, with “Pirates of the Caribbean” maker Gore Verbinski, a suitable director was hired at the time, who was apparently only weeks away from firing up the cameras. In the end, however, nothing came of it, as Verbinski and Studio Universal could not agree on the budget and the targeted age rating (Verbinski wanted an adult rating, but Universal did not).
Also, Verbinski substitute Juan Carlos Fresnadillo (“28 Weeks Later”) was not more successful here. Over the years, there were always small signs of life of a possible “BioShock” adaptation, but they should never bore fruit – until now!
As US industry papers report unanimously, streaming service Netflix will now take care of a “BioShock” film. Corresponding negotiations between the provider and the company Take Two, which is behind the game series, have now been successfully concluded after almost a year. Who will be responsible for the “BioShock” film as writer and director and who will be in front of the camera is not yet known.
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THIS IS “BIOSHOCK”
The first “BioShock” takes players to the dystopian underwater city of Rapture, which was founded in the 1940s by industrialist Andrew Ryan as an alternative to the rest of society. However, a drug that equipped the population with special abilities drove people crazy and the city went to the dogs in the course of a bloody civil war. In 1960, after a plane crash, the main character Jack ends up in the devastated Rapture, where he tries to get to the bottom of the secrets of the city, where little is as it seems.
In front of an atmospheric Art Deco backdrop, “BioShock” combines shooter, stealth, and role-playing elements on a gameplay level, while the narrative is on the move in action, sci-fi, and horror realms and also focuses on all sorts of existential questions. This impressive mix not only ensures that “BioShock” is one of the favorite games of the author of these goals but also appears again and again in all sorts of leaderboards, such as the list of the 250 best PC games of all time on our sister site GameStar.
There, the first part even occupies 14th place, while “BioShock 2” and the second sequel “BioShock Infinite” (in which the dystopian underwater city setting is exchanged for a dystopian cloud city setting) still landed on ranks 161 and 48:
A FAITHFUL “BIOSHOCK” UNIVERSE ON NETFLIX?
The fact that the long-planned “BioShock” film now lands on Netflix should be good news, especially for fans of the template, which is only released from the age of 18. Concerns about the age rating, as Universal once had, should not exist. After all, Netflix is known for spending a lot of money on such prestige productions and still not making any compromises in terms of violence (see also the “The Witcher” series). So, at least in this respect, nothing should stand in the way of production when it comes to capturing the gloomy mood and brutal events in Rapture.
However, it is still unclear how much the content is based on the “BioShock” games. the Hollywood Reporter says that Netflix is now even working on an entire “BioShock” universe. In addition to the already confirmed first film, we could perhaps also expect sequels, spin-offs, and/or series that take up the events of the different games in different ways and/or expand them with their own ideas. But all this certainly depends on the interest in the first “BioShock” movie. When we can expect this on Netflix is not yet clear.
