The BioShock movie is coming to Netflix, finally bringing the underwater city of Rapture to live-action. The 2007 game BioShock was an instant hit with audiences thanks to its incredibly unique setting, deep story, and iconic aesthetic. BioShock's mythology including the underwater city of Rapture, the rivalry between Andrew Ryan and Atlas, and above all the now-iconic Big Daddies and Little Sisters all felt perfectly suited for a movie. Many studios thought so too, as the first attempt at a BioShock movie was made all the way back in 2008 by Universal.
While Universal’s project didn’t pan out, work has been ongoing on the live-action BioShock movie at Netflix since 2002, with Francis Lawrence directing and Michael Green on screenwriting duties. While little has been revealed yet about the cast and story, and a BioShock movie release date is a little ways off, what’s been teased so far indicates that the partnership between Netflix and game developers 2K could finally make the long-demanded live-action BioShock adaptation a reality.
Most Recent BioShock Movie News
The most recent news on the BioShock movie came in late 2023. On October 18, live-action Bioshock screenwriter Michael Green spoke to Collider and gave an update on the script of the upcoming Netflix video game movie. The latest attempt to make a BioShock movie was announced by Netflix in 2022, but news has been relatively quiet since. Michael Green gave some assurances that development was indeed still ongoing, and solid progress had been made.
"Netflix has been amazing about it. They were excited about it before the strike, they're excited about it now, post-strike.” Green explained, hinting that (as many suspected) the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes had delayed development on the BioShock movie. However, Green also revealed that everyone involved is eager to continue, including Netflix themselves.
"Yes, I got called, 'How's it coming along?' the minute the strike was over, 'You about ready…?'” Green revealed, “Been meeting regularly with Francis Lawrence and his team to refine a draft to go back in. We're all optimistic. We all love it. It's a great big sprawling nightmare world we wanna see real. So, here's hoping. I would love to have an update for you soon."
The Live-Action BioShock Movie Is Confirmed
The live-action BioShock movie was confirmed by Netflix in February 2022. The streamer will be bringing the live-action Rapture to life alongside Vertigo Entertainment and 2K, the game studios behind the source material. Francis Lawrence (I Am Legend) and Michael Green (Logan) were confirmed as director and screenwriter when the project was announced.
Universal Studios had previously attempted to create a live-action BioShock movie as early as 2008. The first version was to be directed by Gore Verbinski and was tentatively pegged for a 2010 release, but fell through. The movie got as far as entering pre-production but concerns over both budget and whether it could be R-rated meant it was pulled by Universal by 2013.
Live-Action BioShock Cast: Who’s In The Netflix Movie?
- Jack, the silent protagonist of the first game, which some feel could be a BioShock cast choice suited for Ryan Gosling.
- Andrew Ryan the founder of Rapture and an ideological extremist when it comes to free-market capitalism.
- Frank Fontaine/Atlas, a thorn in Ryan’s side who guides the player through the first game but later turns out to be the real villain.
- Sander Cohen, an insane artist and potentially one of the most scene-stealing roles in the BioShock movie cast.
- Dr. Steinman, a plastic surgeon pathologically obsessed with asymmetrical faces who decided to make his patients more “exciting” to look at, and like Sander Cohen has to be an incredibly memorable minor character.
- Brigid Tenenbaum, the scientist who discovers ADAM and created the Little Sisters but is haunted by her guilt, a complex role to say the least.
- Sofia Lamb, the antagonist of the second game who suffers from a Messiah complex, believing herself to be Rapture’s Salvation.
The cast of the live-action BioShock will likely include some or all of these characters, though nothing has been confirmed yet. There’ll also likely be a few new characters too, in order to flesh out the story a bit more since the game was told exclusively through the perspective of Jack.
The main BioShock movie character speculation has been less on the main cast though, and more on how the iconic Big Daddies and Little Sisters will be adapted in live-action. Since the Little Sisters are children it’s almost guaranteed newcomers will step up to play them. As for the Big Daddies, the actor beneath the suit won’t be visible, or have any spoken lines. Why there’s been so much interest in these cast choices isn’t because of the names attached, but because fans of the games are eager to have it confirmed that the Big Daddies and Little Sisters will be in the live-action BioShock movie.
BioShock Movie Story: What Will The Live-Action Version Change?
There’s nothing confirmed about the plot of the live-action BioShock movie yet, but it’s believed the story will follow the first two games rather than BioShock: Infinite. BioShock and BioShock 2 are both set in the underwater city of Rapture in the 1960s. Created by billionaire free-market capitalist and Ayn Rand enthusiast Andrew Ryan, Rapture was envisioned as a safe haven for those who wanted to progress humanity unfettered by moral complications. Human Experimentation led to the creation of ADAM - a material that alters DNA to provide X-Men-like superpowers and mutations on demand, but also causes insanity.
Crucially, ADAM is a finite resource. To satiate the endless need of Rapture’s citizens, Andrew Ryan authorized that ADAM be harvested from the corpses of dead addicts by the harrowing Little Sisters, female children modified to be young forever, and patrol the halls of Rapture looking for ADAM to harvest. They are protected by the Big Daddies, hulking goliaths that are the product of equally harrowing experiments.
By the time the narrative of the games begin Rapture has descended into anarchy, and it’s highly likely this is where the plot of the live-action BioShock movie will also begin. The population of Rapture have become Splicers, addicted to ADAM and completely homicidal. Andrew Ryan has lost control of Rapture, with figures like Frank Fontaine and Sofia Lamb making plays to take control as the underwater society collapses.
Rapture eventually literally collapses in on itself, with the maintenance and repairs necessary for its subnautical architecture and infrastructure to exist neglected for years due to ADAM and the Splicers. It’s expected that the BioShock movie will follow the story of the first two games and Rapture’s final moments, though it could also be set a little earlier, following the discovery of ADAM and how it quickly turned Rapture from a libertarian dystopia into an underwater hellscape.
