Netflix‘s appetite for video game properties continues to grow as the streaming company has just announced a partnership with 2K and Take-Two Interactive to produce the first Bioshock movie.
The dystopian reality depicted in the Bioshock games has always drawn attention from Hollywood ever since the franchise made its debut back in 2007, however, up until now any efforts to port it to film or television had failed to gain traction. After all, last year, director Gore Verbinski (The Ring and Pirates of the Caribbean) his own initiative to make the film, which he pitched to Universal Studios as a “$200m R-rated” Bioshock movie, an idea that was quickly dismissed by executives due to the high risk video game movies entail.
Nevertheless, Netflix is now putting those fears to rest with a Twitter announcement that broke the news by quoting Andrew Ryan himself, although no further details like the exact setting for the project or its protagonists were disclosed by the streaming giant. What is known is that the Bioshock production will be a full feature film instead of a TV series, with fan speculation quickly jumping to take guesses at which period in the franchise would make for the best story in the franchise’s first movie.
The move represents the latest gaming acquisition made by Netflix, which already boasts two successful video game adaptations in Castlevania and The Witcher, as well as having future projects to adapt Assassin’s Creed, Splinter Cell, and Sonic the Hedgehog. Netflix’s most recent video game production is Cuphead, which is far from being everyone’s cup of tea, despite the positive early impressions it received due to its animation.
Bioshock is simply one of those franchises whose immersive world begs to be adapted into film, though as soon as the tweet was posted the replies were quickly filled with fans asking the company not to ruin it, given its poor track record, particularly with anime like Cowboy Bebop. The philosophical nature of the Bioshock games means the franchise has enough depth and appeal to lure any kind of talent to it, something Netflix might be keen on doing given its current position within the movie industry.
2K and Take-Two's Orwellian trilogy is so beloved that even fans have come up with their own Bioshock short films, something that only raises the bar even further for Netflix to do Rapture, the Big Daddies, and Little Sisters proper justice. Or maybe Bioshock’s film history could start in Columbia with Booker and Elizabeth, either way, producers have a ton of work ahead of them.
Source: @NetflixGeeked|Twitter
