Netflix is still tinkering away on its BioShock movie, but it has had some changes that will see it scaled back a bit.
Producer Roy Lee revealed more about the project during a panel at San Diego Comic-Con 2024 today (via Variety). He says that, following leadership changes, the video-game-to-movie adaptation has been “reconfigured.” Time will tell what exactly this means, but Lee at least says that it will result in a “more personal” film.
Lee says some of the changes come from lower budgets from Netflix, which saw major shakeups in the movie department when Dan Lin stepped in to replace Scott Stuber as film head earlier this year. Details about the BioShock movie’s plot have not been revealed, so it’s unclear what it would have looked like before the shift. Hunger Games director Francis Lawrence is still attached to direct.
“The new regime has lowered the budgets,” Lee said. “So we’re doing a much smaller version. … It’s going to be a more personal point of view, as opposed to a grander, big project.”
A BioShock film has been in various stages of development for more than a decade, but it finally started to become a reality when Netflix announced its involvement in 2022. Despite receiving next to no news about any movie plans throughout the 2010s, updates since its announcement have been mostly positive. Lawrence spelled out plans to work with original game director Ken Levine shortly after its reveal, saying at the time that the adaptation will be “really true to the game itself.” The BioShock movie was still in the writing stages as of October of last year, with Lawrence adding later that he had a script draft that he was “super excited about.”
The BioShock franchise is known for its different settings. With today’s update in mind, we still don’t know if the movie project will stick to that classic underwater city location, take to the skies like BioShock Infinite, or maybe try something new altogether. It’s clear that there is a lot of work to be done, but Lee’s words at least promise that Netflix is still chugging along.
Meanwhile, the BioShock video game series has been without a mainline entry for more than 10 years. Publisher 2K did announce a new installment in 2019, though we’ve heard little about it since. That is until just earlier this month when what seems to be an image from the next BioShock leaked online.
Michael Cripe is a freelance contributor with IGN. He started writing in the industry in 2017 and is best known for his work at outlets such as The Pitch, The Escapist, OnlySP, and Gameranx.
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