Netflix Just Confirmed A BioShock Movie
Update: Netflix has reportedly confirmed a BioShock movie is officially on the way to the streaming service. This comes courtesy of Netflix Geeked on Twitter
Netflix could finally be ready to take a "dip" in the ocean of possibilities a BioShock adaptation brings, and as Cloud Chamber continues to move forward with the mythical BioShock 4, the franchise is ready to open the floodgates once again. While we've all heard about the possibility of a BioShock movie in the past, Netflix is seemingly sounding the alarm and diving deep.
First coming to console and PC in 2007, the original BioShock was a spiritual successor to the horrors of the System Shock series - swapping outer space for an underwater dystopia. With the OG sweeping the awards board, BioShock 2 burst from the briny deep in 2010 and was followed by something of a franchise reboot with the sky-based BioShock Infinite in 2013. Even though we don't know where we're going next, it's about time a live-action BioShock went back to the start.
Is Netflix Working On A BioShock Series?
As noted by @supererogatory on Twitter, Netflix has optioned the rights for something related to BioShock on January 6 this year. It's not quite a confirmation that Netflix is working on a BioShock movie or series, but for the love of God, we hope it's the latter.
It seems live-action video game to TV shows are all the rage right now. Although the likes of Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City and Uncharted are failing to blow critics away on the silver screen, there's the runaway success of The Witcher alongside high hopes for The Last of Us and Halo shows. Given that we plough tens of hours into your average campaign, it seems most modern games are made for a multi-season arc instead of a two-hour movie.
The massive world of Rapture seems rife for the series treatment, with the expanded canon of BioShock stories proving there's more than enough material to fit the brief of multiple seasons. There's also something of a continuing flood of Hollywood stars coming to TV, with everyone from Nicole Kidman to Kate Winslet, Tom Hanks to Anthony Hopkins making the leap. Even in the world of video game adaptations, we've got Henry Cavill and Pedro Pascal leading their own shows.
What Happened To The BioShock Movie?
Click to enlargeSome of you might remember there was nearly a BioShock movie that was going to be helmed by Pirates of the Caribbean's Gore Verbinski. The director previously opened up on how its massive budget sunk the project, but that was years ago. A new game is set to lure fans old and new, while a small or silver screen outing is long overdue.
We recently covered a BioShock fan film that proved the game's narrative credentials, and if Netflix is going down the TV series route, just imagine the talent we could nab. It was only a matter of time until someone tried to reel in BioShock, so here's hoping Netflix goes the whole hog with this one and it's not just some animated miniseries that gives Andrew Ryan an origin story. Either way, it's time to scrape the barnacles off this underwater terror.