The Bioshock movie is still coming, but director Francis Lawrence needs to get the next The Hunger Games film made first. Back at a previous site, I once upon a time had the chance to interview director Gore Verbinski. Off the back of the Pirates Of The Caribbean trilogy he directed, he was set to ... Bioshock | Hang on, the movie is still happening – but it’s in a queue
The Bioshock movie is still coming, but director Francis Lawrence needs to get the next The Hunger Games film made first.
Back at a previous site, I once upon a time had the chance to interview director Gore Verbinski. Off the back of the Pirates Of The Caribbean trilogy he directed, he was set to move on to a movie adaptation of the videogame Bioshock. It got to the point that sets were being built, before Universal Pictures pulled the plug.
It did this back in 2009, spooked at the idea of spending a nine figure sum on a movie that was certain to have an R rating at the end of it. It was a year or two later I spoke to Verbinski and asked him about it. It sticks in the mind, because his face dropped and he just looked sad.
I looked at the story in a bit more detail, here.
It’s taken over 15 years and a Netflix chequebook to get Bioshock moving again, such is the edge inherent in the series of games. The raging success of The Last Of Us television adaptation can’t have hurt either.
The Bioshock film, as it stands, it now set to be directed by Francis Lawrence, who’s been promoting his latest release, The Long Walk. Roy Lee is producing, and he’s confirmed that the film – which feels like it’s been in development hell for a very long time – is still active.
In fact, chatting to The Direct, Lee has now confirmed that the film is going to be based on the first Bioshock game, which makes sense. He also confirmed that The Long Walk getting a greenlight held things up a bit.
“As the script work is being done, we shot The Long Walk, and [Francis Lawrence] was already committed to doing the next Hunger Games movie”, he explained to the outlet.
And therein lies the next problem. Francis Lawrence has jumped straight on to direct The Hunger Games: Sunrise On The Reaping, which is currently shooting ahead of its release at the end of 2026. Only once he’s done with that will Bioshock finally go before the cameras, nearly two decades after it was first supposed to. Permit a moment of ‘believe it when we see it’ here, but as things stand, late 2027 is the earliest we’re going to get the Bioshock movie. Almost certainly later than that.
We’ll keep you posted.
