BioShock Movie Not Dead, Says Levine

Logan Westbrook

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Feb 21, 2008
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BioShock Movie Not Dead, Says Levine



It might have stalled over money concerns, but Ken Levine says that the BioShock movie is still being worked on.

You'd be forgiven for thinking that the BioShock [http://www.amazon.com/BioShock-Playstation-3/dp/B001B1W3GG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=videogames&qid=1283262994&sr=8-1] movie was pretty much done for, what with it losing a director [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/94122-Gore-Verbinski-Drops-Out-of-BioShock-Film] and then getting caught in a budgetary snare [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/101820-Budget-Battles-Baffle-BioShock-Blockbuster], but Irrational's Ken Levine says the despite these problems, the movie is still very much an active concern.

Speaking to Chad Dukes on Washington DC radio station 106.7 The Fan [http://1067thefandc.cbslocal.com/2010/08/30/chad-dukes-interviews-ken-levine/], Levine said that the movie industry was complicated and it wasn't a sure thing that the movie would ever get made, but that it was still being talked about and still being worked on. He added that there were difficulties associated with translating the game into a movie, but that it had been very interesting to get the perspectives of people like director-turned-producer Gore Verbinski and writer John Logan on what they thought those difficulties were. His main concern was making sure that the movie did the source material justice, while at the same time taking the "cipher" that was BioShock's protagonist Jack and making him into a well-rounded and interesting character.

It's hard to know how to feel about the troubles facing the movies as BioShock is one of those games that both would and wouldn't be great on film. From a visual point of view it would be stunning - as long as the budget was there, which has proven to be a sticking point - but there's an awful lot to fit in to just a couple of hours. John Logan has been nominated for two Oscars - one for The Aviator [http://www.amazon.com/Gladiator-Widescreen-Russell-Crowe/dp/B00009ZYBY/ref=sr_1_1?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1283269082&sr=1-1] - so the script is in good hands, but should the movie ever make it to theatres, there's going to be quite a lot that has to be trimmed away.

Source: via Kotaku [http://kotaku.com/5626148/bioshock-creator-on-bioshock-movies-progress]


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Jared

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Jul 14, 2009
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Well, I just hope when it eventually does get out of the pipes - It will actually be good - As mentioned, as long as the budget is there
 

sephiroth1991

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Dec 3, 2009
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I wait to see if this is a complete fuck up or a decent film. I can see it as a good film but you know they going to have a love intrest.
 

Uber Waddles

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May 13, 2010
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Gaming is an interactive medium, making things like BioShock tell their story so well. It can take as much time as it wants and tell you a story, either by the characters, setting, etc.

Converting a game into a movie has some inherant issues. At most, a film will run 3 hours, USUALLY less. So it has to either cut components or shorten them. Not only that, but it takes the interactive out of the medium: your actions arent telling you the story. You cant get the backstory by looking around Rapture; you dont control the camera. Movies tend to forget some of the appeal of the setting to tell you a story without using words.

Not only that, but you lose the Silent Protagonist. They make you feel as though YOUR the protagonist, thinking as they would. Instead, you have some Hollywood hunk thats unrelatable.


My point being: Just let the BioShock movie die. By milking a franchise, you lose the respect of fans. New games are one thing, but making a movie is just a waste of time and money.
 

TerribleAssassin

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Apr 11, 2010
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Uber Waddles said:
Gaming is an interactive medium, making things like BioShock tell their story so well. It can take as much time as it wants and tell you a story, either by the characters, setting, etc.

Converting a game into a movie has some inherant issues. At most, a film will run 3 hours, USUALLY less. So it has to either cut components or shorten them. Not only that, but it takes the interactive out of the medium: your actions arent telling you the story. You cant get the backstory by looking around Rapture; you dont control the camera. Movies tend to forget some of the appeal of the setting to tell you a story without using words.

Not only that, but you lose the Silent Protagonist. They make you feel as though YOUR the protagonist, thinking as they would. Instead, you have some Hollywood hunk thats unrelatable.


My point being: Just let the BioShock movie die. By milking a franchise, you lose the respect of fans. New games are one thing, but making a movie is just a waste of time and money.

And they'll have to cut down the blood and gore for a rating. Like when that corpse is tied to a pillar thing, or when the Big D nails the guy with his drill in the beggining.

OT: Like as stated, I'd rather see it die than be milked for every available penny, so I'd leave it and focus on Infinite.
 

DancePuppets

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I think that if they were to make the film it would be far better focusing on the fall of Rapture, telling a story that was only told in the game through audio-logs. It would show the viewers something that hasn't already been experienced in another medium and would fill in backstory rather than jumping up and down all over the abused corpse of the game.
 

Thaius

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Logan Westbrook said:
From a visual point of view it would be stunning - as long as the budget was there, which has proven to be a sticking point - but there's an awful lot to fit in to just a couple of hours. John Logan has been nominated for two Oscars - one for The Aviator [http://www.amazon.com/Gladiator-Widescreen-Russell-Crowe/dp/B00009ZYBY/ref=sr_1_1?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1283269082&sr=1-1] - so the script is in good hands, but should the movie ever make it to theatres, there's going to be quite a lot that had to be trimmed away.
I'm not sure about that. I loved Bioshock, mostly for its fantastic story, but a huge amount of the game was exploring and fetch-questing (You need to get through this door, but wait! This guy wants you to get pictures of every splicer first!). Take the exploration out and you have a much shorter game, and if you took the back-and-forth running to do what random strangers tell you it will be even shorter. The main plot points could easily fit within a 2 hour movie; if anything, the backstory won't be as detailed, but as long as they fit in what they have to (a lot of which is done visually anyway, with posters and such), it would be fine.

My only real concern is the fact that some moments in that game are literally impossible to fully reproduce in a non-interactive medium. The way control was taken away from the player in the plot twist was a brilliant storytelling move, accentuating the very point of the story as well as the shocking revelation of your journey. However well they may do that scene, it will never be as impacting as it was in the game, because film simply cannot do the same things video games can.
 

Dioxide20

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Aug 11, 2009
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Lets hope that it isn't just a copy of the original game. It would be awesome, but the coolest part about the original is known to all who beat the game. I would want it to have its own story based in Rapture.
 

Spacewolf

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May 21, 2008
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They sould be doing the founding of rapture and its fall rather than jacks time as that would be much better since i personally dont think it would mae a good game but an great film. Intrigue, grey characters, and character development
 

Xelien

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Oct 22, 2008
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I think a Bioshock movie could be amazing, if giving the right direction and though. The 1st problem is how to introduce the whole back story, and how some people have mention, maybe it be better to make the movie about the fall of Rapture. But what if the movie had two time lines?

One with Jack arriving and the now dilapidated city and the other with Rapture at its prime. We'd get to see how each place mirrored each other and how changed people became with the rise of plasmids. Since they'd be two time lines it would probably not have as much violence as the game did(which is totally fine in my case) But I think focusing on the Ayn Rand society is the best idea.

Of corse doing it this would need A LOT of money, and it be hard for companies and producers to invest in a video game movie. I just hope it doesn't end up having Jack as some ripped guy who goes all gore fest on splicers, with the more interesting characters making few appearances...... Also I don't now how there going to do little sisters and Big Daddy's (CGI?)