MUMBAI: 2K Games, a US game company, has reached an agreement for video game BioShock to be developed as a feature film by Universal Pictures.
2K Games, whose 2K Boston and 2K Australia studios developed BioShock, is a video game publishing label of Take-Two Interactive Software.
Gore Verbinski, director of the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy, is slated to direct and produce the BioShock movie. John Logan, who won Oscar nominations for writing Gladiator, The Aviator and Sweeney Todd is in talks to do the screenplay.
The expected release date and terms of the agreement were not disclosed. BioShock has sold approximately 2 million units worldwide since its release in August 2007. A sequel to the game, BioShock 2, is planned for a release in 2009.
Take-Two chairman Strauss Zelnick said, “We are excited that 2K Games’ vision for BioShock will be carried forward in a new medium. BioShock has been hailed as one of the most highly cinematic and richly plotted titles in interactive entertainment, making it extremely well-suited to film. In partnering with Universal and Gore Verbinski, we have assembled a team that respects the uniqueness of BioShock and will translate it into a powerful movie experience.”
“Our ability to attract a major studio and unparalleled creative team speaks volumes about the strength of our BioShock franchise. It also demonstrates how Take-Two is delivering value, based on our strategy of creating and owning our industry’s most powerful intellectual property,” Zelnick added.
In the game after barely surviving a plane crash, the player lands in icy uncharted waters and discovers an undersea city called Rapture, a failed utopia whose citizens had embraced genetic engineering before the city descended into pure anarchy. Power and greed have run amok and the city has succumbed to civil war.
2K Games, president Christoph Hartmann said, “BioShock fans appreciate the depth and complexity of the game, and our partnership with Gore Verbinski will introduce the world of Rapture to an even wider audience. In addition to his impressive body of work, Gore is an avid video gamer and true fan of BioShock. That was extremely important to us in deciding to move forward with this project.”
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