Grave Gamer News & Views — movie

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.

Even still, Kasanoff claims no one had faith in it, neither at New Line or Midway. Or even in Hollywood generally. “After the test screening an executive at New Line said the movie was a piece of shit,” says Kasanoff in his inimitable style. “When I finished the movie I took it to Chicago to show Neil Nicastro, who was chief executive of Midway. I said, ‘You see, you said I wouldn’t do it but here it is.’ He sits and watches it. When it’s over, he looks at me and says: ‘Three out of 10. Piece of shit.’”

From Generation Xbox: How Videogames Invaded Hollywood by Jamie Russell.  The above excerpt details film producer Larry Kasanoff’s uphill battle to make Mortal Kombat: The Movie, and the franchise as a whole, into the megaton hit it was in an era where Hollywood considered video game adaptations to be the same as flinging warm piss into moviegoers’ eyes.  You can find a larger except from Russell’s book on Kotaku.

Clock Tower has graced the belly of development hell for six long years now with multiple directors attached.  Despite being hot potatoed across Hollywood, the survival horror adaptation hasn’t found traction until now.

David R. Ellis, the man behind such perennial classics as Final Destination 2, Snakes on a Motherfuckin’ Plane, and Shark Night 3D, has queued Clock Tower to his list of works in...

While adaptations, sequels, reboots, and remakes continue on in their mission to suffocate the American movie goer, we’ve experienced a significant slow down of video game flicks hitting theaters.  Not that we’re missing out on revelatory films or anything; many consider it a godsend that Hollywood hasn’t bitch slapped gamers with another stinker n’ sinker like Tomb Raider.

But from the ashes of...