The problem with making the Bioshock movie

Gore Verbinski has been attached to the film adaptation of Bioshock for years now, with very little news about production of the property trickling from a few scant interviews. Today is no different as we receive another tidbit that seems to be the cause for delay:

via Coming Soon

I couldn’t really get past anybody that would spend the money that it would take to do it and keep an R rating,” he explained, “Alternately, I wasn’t really interested in pursuing a PG-13 version. Because the R rating is inherent. Little Sisters and injections and the whole thing. I just wanted to really, really make it a movie where, four days later, you’re still shivering and going, “Jesus Christ!”… It’s a movie that has to be really, really scary, but you also have to create a whole underwater world, so the pricetag is high. We just didn’t have any takers on an R-rated movie with that pricetag.

The article even went as far as to say that he’s no longer actively involved in the project, unfortunately putting the movie in the same category as Halo, Mass Effect (probably), and Gears of War for stalling out in production.

I had high hopes for this movie and liked the tone that the director was aiming toward. I enjoyed the first PoTC enough to give him a chance with Bioshock and can’t help but feel disappointed that studios aren’t ready to back his vision for this film. Hopefully something changes and this movie finally makes its way to the silver screen without disrupting the masses too much for any liberties that it may take.

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About Anthony Whyte

Content Manager | Senior Editor | Daydreamer | Keep your head on a swivel and don't blink

9 thoughts on “The problem with making the Bioshock movie

  1. Shouldn’t the WoW movie be put in the same catagory? It doesn’t even seem like that sucker’s moved an inch in the past 4-5 years.

    Honestly, I think these sorts of things just have more to do with the industry than anything else. The exception is movies being streamlined toward production, not the rule. Things just seem to inch ahead most of the time, which is probably why most movies never get made. Look how long Darren Aranofsky had Black Swan up his sleeves — he first talked to Portman about the film an entire *decade* ago.

    1. World of Warcraft won’t be Rated R. And the setting is not nearly as ambitious as Bioshock.

      The point is the combination of a massive budget and a limited audience.

      WoW already has a MASSIVE audience that will see this movie anyways (Bioshock doesn’t have near the following) and anyone will be able to go see World of Warcraft.

  2. why dont we start a petition to say we the fans/movie goers want a r rated bioshock movie. if enough people sign and the studios see it they should know people want it and will pay so see it. if i get a bioshock movie it better be good and not pg it up. silent hill was bad ass. so rated R game movies work

    1. Because petitions don’t do anything.

      And it still wont make them decide to spend the kind of budget required to make this movie and still stand a chance with a limited audience that an R would give them.

      Verbinski has a level head. The film would require an insane budget, and there is no way you can make the film (shooting up for powers, homicidal little girls and blood and guts) without being an R which dramatically limits the audience – and potential income.

      He would rather NOT make the movie than have to “PG it up”

  3. well, because most if not all that games have very high R rated slapping on them, also the potential out of the chart pricetag of producing it really not done well w/ current economic climates.

      1. I disagree. I don’t even think there is any point in doing mass effect the movie since the game it self is something that is beyond movies (same goes for heavy rain) but Bioshock is THE perfect game to turn into a movie. There is this great setting and all these things that you wanna know more about.

        Also they can step away form the game story and create something different but set in the wonderfull world of BS (hahah)

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