Netflix has revealed that it’s working on a Bioshock movie. The science fiction movie is being produced in partnership with Take Two Interactive, the developer behind the horror games.
The streaming service made the announcement via Twitter, sharing an image of Big Daddy – a giant, robotic enemy with a drill for an arm – with the phrase “We all make choices, but in the end our choices make us”. This is a quote from Andrew Ryan, the primary antagonist in the original game, all of which suggest we’ll be seeing an adaptation of that, which became one of the defining releases of its generation.
The Hollywood Reporter states this comes after almost a year of negotiations for the screen rights between the two companies. As of now, no filmmakers are attached, but knowing it’s all gotten a greenlight is cause for celebration. We got close once before, with Gore Verbinski and Universal, back in the late 2000s. Production stalled due to budget concerns, and eventually Verbinski left, and it all died on the vine.
Netflix has a proven track record of following through on these things, not least with videogame adaptations. You’ve got The Witcher and Arcane, to name but two examples, which have become two of the platform’s major hits.
Would you kindly…get excited because Netflix is partnering with 2K and Take-Two Interactive to produce a film adaptation of the renowned video game franchise BIOSHOCK! pic.twitter.com/lUqfaNlbc4
— NetflixFilm (@NetflixFilm) February 15, 2022
An FPS game, Bioshock follows Jack, the sole survivor of a plane crash, who finds his way down to the underwater city of Rapture. The metropolis was built on ideals individualism by Andrew Ryan. Free from any kind of regulation, scientific experimentation led to the mutagen ADAM, a serum that caused radical, often violent transformation in users.
Addiction to ADAM, and conflicting interests between certain inhabitants, led to bloody civil war. Most residents died, and as Jack, you wander through what’s left, protecting yourself as best you can. Bioshock was a top-seller, and it’s still beloved, for its world-building and use of complex philosophical ideas.
While we wait for more on the Bioshock movie, check out the best Netflix horror movies.