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If there were one adaptation I wanted more than anything, it was to see the video game “BioShock” turned into a feature film. The story arc and incredible designs primed it for the big screen treatment. Unfortunately, a ballooning budget, among other factors, caused the dream to sink.
EuroGamer caught up with Irrational’s Ken Levine at BAFTA, where he was on hand to promote “BioShock Infinite”. There, he spoke on the dead movie that once had Pirates of the Caribbean and The Ring‘s Gore Verbinski attached to direct.
The shocker? He personally killed the project!
“There was a deal in place, and it was in production at Universal – Gore Verbinski was directing it,” said Levine. “My theory is that Gore wanted to make a hard R film – which is like a 17/18 plus, where you can have blood and naked girls. Well, I don’t think he wanted naked girls. But he wanted a lot of blood.” He continues, “Then Watchmen came out, and it didn’t do well for whatever reason. The studio then got cold feet about making an R rated $200 million film, and they said what if it was a $80 million film – and Gore didn’t want to make a $80 million film.”
This caused Universal to bring in a new director, which made Levine uncomfortable: “So they said if you want to kill it, kill it. And I killed it.”
I personally would rather see the movie done with the blessing of Levine, thus I’ll give him a standing ovation for standing his ground. Still, I hope they eventually figure out a way to make it, and make it well..
