BioShock film bill "extraordinarily high"

By Robert Purchese Published 1 July, 2010

Verbinski cutting costs but not "integrity".

BioShock film producer Gore Verbinski has insisted the project hasn't drowned but is treading water while the team tries to reduce an "extraordinarily high" budget.

"We're working trying to make it," Verbinski told IGN Movies.

"The problem with BioShock is: R-rated movie, underwater, horror. It's a really expensive R-rated movie. So we're trying to figure out a way working with [director] Juan Carlos [Fresnadillo] to get the budget down and still keep so it's true to the core audience, you know?

"The thing is it has to be R, a hard R," he added.

Verbinski doesn't want to make films based on videogames, but said the story of BioShock had "really good bones".

"We don't want to dumb it down," he offered, "we don't want to make it PG-13. We want to keep it really edgy, and it's a huge bill."

Verbinski had been in line to direct BioShock but stood aside to allow Juan Carlos Fresnadilo (28 Weeks Later) the honour.

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (39) Latest comment 2 years ago

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  • MiniAmin #1 2 years ago

    Let's hope we'll enjoy the film in a state of pure rapture.

    /gets coat

  • darkmorgado #2 2 years ago

    I don't see why the budget has to be so high. Too many special effects and too much gore and you lose the atmosphere, and atmosphere is much easier and cheaper to create than some cheap CGI blood.

    I'm more concerned about the script - the deication to an R rating makes me worry that they are just thinking about the violence and that the flm will jettison most of the Randian themes which define the game under the excuse that "most americans don't understand it".

  • Paperghost #3 2 years ago

    ...coming soon in 3D, starring milla jovovich and directed by the guy who did Event Horizon.

  • TeaFiend #4 2 years ago

    Just film it at the local aquarium, duh. I have solved the problem right there.

  • cw- #5 2 years ago

    28 Weeks Later was shit. Bah!

  • beastmaster #6 2 years ago

    Rated R for Retarded (Lifted from GTA)

  • Goodfella #7 2 years ago

    So we're trying to figure out a way working with [director] Juan Carlos [Fresnadillo] to get the budget down and still keep so it's true to the core audience, you know?

    ...and like that, I am Jan Hankl, you know!

    http://www .youtube.com/watch?v=DY-Zdgo0OXo

  • schnide #8 2 years ago

    28 Weeks Later was good, and much better than the overrated 28 Days Later.

  • cw- #9 2 years ago

    28 Days Later was fantastic, 28 Weeks Late was just shit and did not live up to how good the first one was. Very poor story.

    Gore Verbinski has directed more, and better films than Juan!

  • geeza2020 #10 2 years ago

    I thought the game did the story well enough, i dont need to watch an hour and half long highlight reel of the game.

  • superted1974 #11 2 years ago

    Why can't a 13 (american rating) be edgey?

    Does he mean it has to have lots of blood in it?

  • andromeda #12 2 years ago

    sorry cw- and schnide
    but if you think any of the 28 **** later films were good then you need re-educating in movies.

    utter crap, both of them.

  • cw- #13 2 years ago

    Bioshock is dark and 'scary', can you get that feeling with a PG-13 ?

    He doesn't mention anything about it being gorey and full of special effects. It's like making AvP fucking 15 rated :|

  • cw- #14 2 years ago

    Feel free to try to educate me amdromeda, I have a wide range in taste of films (I quite enjoy the Res Evil films (except the third one), even though I KNOW they're not really all that good).

    But 28 Days Later IS good.. 7.6/10 rating on IMDB isn't a bad film ..?

  • tomrobinsonz #15 2 years ago

    I still have hopes for this, Juan Carlos also directed the interesting art house flick Intacto which had an excellent premise well executed. Also say what you will about 28 Weeks Later's story etc it was directed with considerable flair.Carlos is a less mainstream director than Verbinski which I think will suit Bioshock.

  • bodypopper #16 2 years ago

    A hard R... in 3D?
    An animated Bioshock (or something in the style of Sin City or 300) would better catch the mood of the game perhaps.

  • iHAZaCHEEZ3burger #17 2 years ago

    Its a shame the people behind AvP didn't have the same views on PG13.

  • theodg #18 2 years ago

    The problem with a BioShock movie would be the whole twist is particularly suited to a computer game, where you are in control of the character. In fact its kind of a comment on playing computer games. The story and protagonist would need tweaking to work well as a film.

  • MatMan562 #19 2 years ago

    I love the games and think a movie could be great, but I have a horrible feeling it will be messed up somehow

  • metalangel #20 2 years ago

    *orchestral score* This summer... in a world... beyond your wildest dreams... One man... Fights to save an incredible underwater city. *action montage, including someone ducking under flying debris* "I'm going with you, Jack!" "You're staying right here!" "This is MY city!" *more blurry, impossible to follow action which concludes with a Big Daddy which looks nothing like the ones in the game turning and stabbing its drill into the camera* Bioshock!

  • ignatiusjreilly #21 2 years ago

    Sounds to me like it's a few weeks away from getting cancelled.

  • rhinoxious #22 2 years ago

    That makes sense to me, R films are hard to make because the returns are limited compared to PG13, and any shoot involving large quantities of water is bound to be expensive - though they could avoid this with some clever plotting, after all there's very little water in the first game - though shooting those crucial opening scenes could be pricey!

    nice to see a film producer being so open about the production issues.

  • Stuz359 #23 2 years ago

    I can see problems with this movie. The premise of the game is fantastic and the execution was great. However, some of the things that made the game great won't translate that well to film I feel. In the game, you did have a feeling almost of isolation and an oppressive atmosphere. Not sure how this will translate to film and have a horrible feeling you will get an ensemble cast of people (including wacky sidekick, love interest and token black guy) that get picked off one by one by an unknown threat. Which will make it just like every other crappy horror movie out there.

  • hiddenranbir #24 2 years ago

    Seems like this film will lose a shit load of money.

  • JayKwon #25 2 years ago

    It's gonna be difficult to translate the game's atmosphere and story into a movie. I just at least hope it leaves the world of Rapture intact without harming it or its inmates and creating a good movie at the same time. It doens't have to be extroardinary like the game, but make it at least an honorable attempt. That would make my day (when I see it) :).

  • Coughthulu #26 2 years ago

    "We want to keep it really edgy, and it's a huge bill."

    Well, he's doomed himself now. Tim Langdell will be along to ensure it's not at all edgy.

    I expect to see 'Shocked Bios, a film by EDGE' shortly on his site.
    Edited by 1 at 01/07/10 @ 12:47

  • Vertius #27 2 years ago

    I hope they realise they don't actually have to build a dystopian city at the bottom of the Atlantic. That'd trim their costs a bit... :3

  • PlugMonkey #28 2 years ago

    cragtek
    So a few swear words cost a lot more, do they?

    No, building a submerged art deco dystopia is expensive. This is important if you're movie is going to be R rated, as you're targetting a much smaller audience. So you can make a film that costs hundreds of millions of dollars if it's going to be a 12 max (Pirates, Transformers, Ironman, Avatar, LotR) but not if it's going to be an 18, because you'll never make it back.

    And 28 Weeks Later was appallingly contrived.

  • Caimbeul #29 2 years ago

    Worried.

  • makeamazing #30 2 years ago

    I really liked 28 weeks later to be honest... but i do understand why something that could be niche needs to not have a massive budget.

  • darleysam #31 2 years ago

    Guys, compare Alien or Aliens with AVP. I'm pleased they're shooting for an R rather than a mass-market PG-13, because it's the right thing to be doing. I wish them all the best with this.

  • sonicyoda #32 2 years ago

    Stop making films about new games. Where's my fucking 'Chip's Challenge' movie?
    Edited by 1 at 01/07/10 @ 14:34

  • makeamazing #33 2 years ago

    I'm still waiting for the big budget Jet Set Willy movie... they better had hurry up, its been in pre-production hell for years.

  • Turambar #34 2 years ago

    Speak to Zoic studios. And everyone else on the Serenity team for that matter. The film looked amazing and had a budget of $40m

  • metalangel #35 2 years ago

    @sonicyoda: so long as there's the music from that level filled with fireballs and the cockroach-type enemies, I'll back that. And if the final scene where Chip finally scores Melinda the Mental Marvel is a drawn-out sex scene like in Blue Orchid.

  • cw- #36 2 years ago

    Nah, the story of '28 Weeks Later' was just sooooooooo poor, unbelievable bad decision after bad decision, found it very difficult to suspend my disbelief.
    When Robery Carlye turned, he took out 4 or 5 soldiers who were far too slow to react it's unbelievable, hording all the civi's into the basement with no escape so they're just trapped is so fucking stupid it's untrue and very hard to believe (which is the main part of the film I just cannot have any "suspension of disbelief" with) etc etc.

    With '28 Days Later' I found the story to be better, believable, not stupid and better written.

  • makeamazing #37 2 years ago

    @cw i know what your saying about keeping people in the basement, but if history has taught us anything is that humans not only make stupid decisions, but also make stupid mistakes, so in that case its possible :D

    I thought the start of 28 weeks later was amazingly well filmed, especially when he is being chased and they are jumping into the water after him.

    Ps Saw the Dawn of the Dead remake again the other day, that is also very enjoyable.

  • cw- #38 2 years ago

    Dawn of the Dead is a great film, really enjoy watching that.

    I acquired 62 zombie films recently, need to start making my way through them all ¬_¬

  • bloodflowers #39 2 years ago

    It's going to be depicting the underwater city of Rapture that costs a lot of money, not the violence. I hope they can just get more money from somewhere, it would be an incredible sight to see Rapture on film.

    I preferred 28 Weeks later. Sure, the plot has some much bigger holes, but the atmosphere was just right - incredibly bleak.
    Edited by 1 at 02/07/10 @ 10:15