Grave Gamer News & Views — bioshock

Buried at Sea

by Adenie

Universal Begins Production on Bioshock Infinite: The Movie

Though a feature length film adaptation of Irrational Games’ original Bioshock failed to gain traction and move past the fires of development hell, it would appear rights holder Universal Studios is looking to the sky for another run at bringing the critically acclaimed IP to the silver screen.

Greenlit on the back of a spec script written by Jeremy Leven (The Notebook, The Time Traveler’s Wife) in conjunction with genre scribe Damon Lindelof (Lost, Prometheus), Universal is fast tracking a film loosely based upon 2013’s stalwart gaming experience, Bioshock Infinite.

While several key plot elements from the game remain in place – a man, a lighthouse, a floating city – Universal’s hurried excitement to reimagine Infinite for the big screen stems from the biggest narrative change found in Leven and Lindelof’s script: protagonists Booker DeWitt and Elizabeth Comstock are “wayward lovers in their mid to late twenties” attempting to reunite in the midst of a civil war waged on the streets of Columbia, a city segregated from the U.S. by clouds.

Booker fights alongside a rebellion of lower class citizens, the Vox Populi, while Elizabeth is the heiress to the ruling, and wealthy, Comstock family. The game’s religious overtones, Comstock’s cult in particular, are apparently being toned down purposely to service a wider palette, traded in for the classic struggle between the rich and the poor.

“It’s sort of a high concept, genre take on Romeo and Juliet,” said Lindelof. "Jeremy [Leven] has proven time and again he knows how to write fully fleshed out characters. I mean, characterization is his thing obviously. I came aboard because I wanted to realize the world of Columbia and play with the really lofty, cool concepts Irrational laid down, like multi-dimensional traversal and gigantic steampunk birdman things.“

"It’s been great working on this project with Damon,” said Leven. “We really complement each other’s strengths well, I think. I’m the go-to guy for drama and romance and such, while Damon’s your man when it’s time to maul a dude’s face with a skyhook.”

Hollywood hunk Ryan Gosling and Tinseltown sweetheart Rachel McAdams are said to be in negotiations to play the roles of star-crossed lovers Booker and Elizabeth respectively. “I’ve never heard of Bioshock, haven’t played a video game since Mario [laughs], but I immediately fell in love with the script,” Gosling said. “It’s really heady, really out there. And the love these two characters have for one another… It’s a bond stronger than blood.”

Universal currently has a short list of directors favored to helm the picture including Matthew Vaughn (X-Men: First Class, Kick Ass), Alfonso Cuarón (Gravity, Children of Men), and Francis Lawrence (Constantine, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire). Ken Levine, series creator and former head of the now disbanded Irrational, has confirmed he will be serving in an executive producing capacity. When asked how extensive his involvement would be, Levine replied, “I receive a paycheck and commence loud, hearty laughter on my way to the bank.”

UPDATE: April 2nd is here, folks. Thanks to all who believed my fabricated bullshit; you truly made April Fools’ a special day for me.

Irrational Games is Closing Down

This is a helluva head turner, given the Massachusetts-based studio’s recent successes.

The studio responsible for creating the original Bioshock as well as last year’s sensational piece of digital art, Bioshock Infinite, is closing its doors. Ken Levine, the developer’s most prominent figurehead and creative visionary, revealed his reason for shuttering a studio seemingly at the peak of its career:

“Seventeen years is a long time to do any job, even the best one. And working with the incredible team at Irrational Games is indeed the best job I’ve ever had. While I’m deeply proud of what we’ve accomplished together, my passion has turned to making a different kind of game than we’ve done before. To meet the challenge ahead, I need to refocus my energy on a smaller team with a flatter structure and a more direct relationship with gamers. In many ways, it will be a return to how we started: a small team making games for the core gaming audience.”

This new, refocused endeavor will only be taking fifteen Irrational employees aboard – the rest, unfortunately are being let go – and, according to Levine, will exclusively publish content digitally.

Founded in 1997 by three former Looking Glass Studios employees, Levine included, Irrational’s legacy spans titles the likes of System Shock 2, Freedom Force, and SWAT 4. In 2006, Take-Two purchased the studio, publishing their industry celebrated, publicly revered Bioshock series under the 2K Games label. Subsequently, the future of Bioshock franchise, now estimated to have made over a half billion dollars in revenue, is in 2K’s hands.

Irrational’s last effort will be Bioshock Infinite’s Burial at Sea: Episode 2; the final expansion to their last game. My best wishes go out to the studio’s team members. Thank you for the many, many hours we’ve spent lost, enthralled, and loving your worlds.

Concept Art for Abandoned Bioshock Movie Hits the Web 

Here lies what could have been. It really wasn’t too long ago that Hollywood, wishing to ride the success of Irrational’s intellectual shooter, was spinning the wheels on a full feature Bioshock film.

The silver screen adaptation was being backed by Universal Studios with Pirates of the Caribbean director Gore Verbinski helming ship; all under the watchful eye of series mastermind Ken Levine. Originally supported by a $200 million dollar budget and Verbinski’s intent on making a “hard-rated,” rated R film, Bioshock seemed set to reign in a new era of video game film – one in which we wouldn’t be privy to two hours of cringe culling shit.

But like Halo before it, Universal was uncomfortable shilling out that much cash for both an R-rated film and a video game adaptation. Levine suspected the then-recent box office disappointment of the very expensive and very R-rated Watchmen led to Universal slashing Bioshock’s budget down to $80 million. “The studio got cold feet about making an R-rated $200 million film,” said Levine.

Soon after, development hell crept up on the project. Gore Verbinski, unhappy with the lowered budget, departed. A new director was chosen but Levine says he just didn’t fit. Take Two, Bioshock’s rights holders, went to Ken for the final say on the film. “They said to me, ‘if you want to kill it Ken, kill it.’ And I killed it.”

What remains of the film’s pre-production includes conceptual artist Jim Martin’s designs. You can view his entire gallery of work he laid out for the film here which features areas of Rapture never explored in the game. If Martin’s renderings are any indication, the film looked to faithfully recreate Irrational Games’ dystopia beneath the sea. Oh, what could’ve been.

Cute Birdy by Circuit Druid