During an interview with Collider, filmmaker Francis Lawrence explained how he wanted to approach the making of the future film Bioshock.
A highly anticipated film
Released in 2007, Bioshock was an immediate success and is fondly remembered, and it’s been a while since a movie adaptation has been eagerly awaited by fans. Several projects have also been announced over the years, but all have ended in cancellations.
A Bioshock movie was originally planned for 2011, realized by Gore Verbinsky, to whom we owe in particular Pirates of the Caribbean. The project then changed hands for budgetary reasons to land behind the camera of Juan Carlos Fresnadillobest known for its sequel to the horror classic 28 days later. The project was quickly canceled due to lack of producers.
After several years of going back and forth with different directors, actors, and producers, the adaptation finally seems to have found a buyer at netflix and Francis Lawrenceto whom we owe the film adaptation of the series of novels The Hunger Games.
Carte blanche for the director
Director Francis Lawrence told Collider that Netflix would have given him carte blanche to approach the film however he sees fit. And for Lawrence, that meant working hand-in-hand with the game’s creators: Ken Levine, and Take-Two Interactive.
“Basically, me and Cameron [MacConomy, producteur de Hunger Games] who works with me, and Michael [Green, scénariste, notamment de Logan et Blade Runner 2049] can do what we want to do, which is great,” he said. “A lot of it is about staying true to the game itself, and we’re talking with Take-Two [Interactive] and Ken Levine.”
Rather a good sign therefore, especially since Francis Lawrence seems to be a fan from the start: “I think it’s one of the best games ever made“, he claimed. “It’s also, I think, one of the most visually unique games ever made. The other thing, and one of the things that always appeals to me, is that it’s very thematic. There are real ideas and philosophies […], and it’s really, really, really thoughtful. A lot of games can have a great world, or a great main character, or they can have you experience great scenes, but they don’t really have the ideas, they don’t have the weight and gravity of Bioshock. This mix of real ideas and philosophies and incredible aesthetics.”
“I don’t want to dwell on it too much now because it’s quite early in the process, but I certainly didn’t feel smothered in any wayor sent in any direction with Netflix.”
steam
The little sisters of the very first Bioshock game are blowing out their 15th candle, since the game was released on August 21, 2007 on PC and Xbox 360. We take the opportunity to come back to a license that marked, with often memorable games. We give you a little retrospective.