In 2008, Universal started developing a live-action film for the popular video game series,
BioShock. Gore Verbinski ("The Lone Ranger") was set to direct a script to be written by John Logan ("The Last Samurai"). A year later,
Watchmen struggled at the box office, which lead Universal to feel uneasy about producing a $200 million R-rated film. They requested that Gore try to make his vision for only $80 million to help mitigate their risk exposure, but Gore balked at the request. He then slid over into the producer's chair, and Juan Carlos Fresnadillo ("28 Weeks Late") to helm the project. By early 2010, pre-production had begun, but not long afterward
BioShock creator Ken Levine would step in and pull the plug for good. Levine felt as though Juan Carlos Fresnadillo was not a good match, nor was he willing to make other compromises just to see his game come to life on the silver screen. I'm sure we haven't heard the last of a
BioShock film, but until then let's enjoy some concept art.
Concept Art by Tim Flattery
In the first half of the 20th century an industrialist by the name of Andrew Ryan, built an underwater utopia called Rapture. Rapture was populated by the world's best and the brightest and was seen as an unbridled success. A undetermined period of time later a new species of sea slug that secreted stem cells was discovered in the ocean surrounding Rapture. This allowed the inhabitants of Rapture to enhance physical and mental capabilities and to heal old wounds. These stem cells, known as Adam, became so sought after that a war to control the substance broke out between Andrew Ryan and one of Adam's original discoverers, a scientist named Fontaine. The war was eventually won by Ryan, however the population, having modified themselves to survive the war, was changed forever. They were now addicted to Adam and depended on it for their survival. The game starts as the player's aeroplane crash lands in the ocean near Rapture ten years after society collapsed. - bioshock-online.com