By Alec Meer on May 9th, 2008 at 9:31 am.
Oh yes – Rapture for real will be quite the sight to behold.
Oh no – It’s to be directed and produced by Gore ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ Verbinski. Well, the first film was loads of fun, but even discounting those sequels, high seas hi-jinks seems an unusual pedigree for undersea rumination upon the nature of man. But hey, both have water and zombies.
“It’s believed to be the biggest videogame-to-movie deal since 2005, when Universal and Fox signed onto the since aborted “Halo” pic, for which Microsoft got $5 million against 10%”, reports Variety.
“”I think the whole utopia-gone-wrong story that’s cleverly unveiled to players is just brimming with cinematic potential. Of all the games I’ve played, this is one that I felt has a really strong narrative”
-Gore Verbinski.
Erm. Perhaps he hasn’t played all that many games, then – although such a comment might explain why the last two Pirates films were so porridgy and incoherent. Let’s hope he’s enthusing more about Bioshock’s setting and backstory than its pay-off, eh? “It’s a much more intimate story than “Pirates.” Although it’s an adventure, it’s a dramatic adventure. I see it more along the lines of ‘Blade Runner’”, he adds in an interview here, in which he also talks about his chuminess with Ken Levine. He makes some of the right noises – at least name-checking free will and Ayn Rand – but the pervading sense is very much ‘big summer blockbuster’. And understandably so. Unlike Andrew Ryan, I very much doubt Verbinski is willing to design an immense underwater city solely for the arthouse crowd.
The immediate problem with using the existing narrative is that, unlike the game, the audience isn’t in the shoes of the lead character, so Bioshock’s moments of greatest resonance will be that much tougher to achieve. Potentially the big reveal could be a bit Sixth Sense – which, in fairness, was reasonably affecting on the first viewing.
Surprisingly, this is Take Two’s first ever movie deal – they’ve resisted a GTA flick for yonks now – and so they’re claiming to be heavily involved with it. They’re also getting a multi-million dollar advance, which means there’ll be a great deal of bigwig self-congratulation about buying up Bioshock developers Irrational last year.
No word yet on whether there’ll be one ending for normal people and another for those who believe there’s nothing wrong with killing little girls.
09/05/2008 at 09:50 Dorian Cornelius Jasper says:
Wonder if there’s gonna be some Vita-Chamber goodness.
That oughtta throw Ebert for a loop.
09/05/2008 at 09:53 Alarik says:
Well, whatever.
09/05/2008 at 09:54 Howard says:
Don’t [offer a different opinion to mine], Alec. It may surprise you to know that a) plenty of people very much LIKED the 2nd two PotC films and that b) not everyone thinks that Bioshock was a good game.
09/05/2008 at 10:00 John P (Katsumoto) says:
People -liked- the second two Pirates films? How on earth did that happen?! ;) They were atrocious beyond reckoning -imo-. The gulf between the first and the sequels was really quite astonishing.
Anyway, it would be hard to write a piece about a new Verbinski film without expressing an opinion of his previous work :P
09/05/2008 at 10:04 Crispy says:
Can’t
the film industryHollywood get its own good writers instead of leeching off comicbook characters and games?The only way this film will be good is to maintain subterranian levels of expectations on the off-chance it isn’t half-bad.
09/05/2008 at 10:06 Howard says:
@John P
Sure it would be hard to discuss any creative person without expressing opinion regarding their work but this article has casually crossed the divide between informed opinion and plain old slander. Very poor work.
And get a grip. There is nothing wrong with the any of the PotC films, they just are what they are. You want the Godfather2? Go damned well watch it.
09/05/2008 at 10:08 Alec Meer says:
Relax, Howard. I’m sorry we have differing opinions about the films, but don’t take it out on other readers or resort to insults.
09/05/2008 at 10:12 Howard says:
Alec if you can’t play nice, just delete all my posts and yours relating to them. I don’t have space in my head for this level of behaviour.
Jesus….
09/05/2008 at 10:13 Alec Meer says:
There’s no need for that, sir. Simply express your opinions without insults and all is well.
09/05/2008 at 10:13 c-Row says:
I thought Bioshock would make for a great novel, with the audio tapes as short interplays in between chapters, and it would preserve the moments of resonance you wrote about. Oh well, maybe now we will get the movie novelization…
09/05/2008 at 10:16 Kieron Gillen says:
Howard, I’ve just got up and Alec’s not the one who’s sounding insecure. Me? I thought the first Pirates was one of the best action films of the decade, the second fun if meandering and the buzz on the third has prevented me going to see it.
Throw an insult again though, and you’re just going to get your posts deleted. The ironic-change-of-words is the RPS subtle hint you’re out of line.
KG
09/05/2008 at 10:16 John P (Katsumoto) says:
Okay, i’ll get a grip.
PULLS SELF TOGETHER.
Oh yeah, the last two pirate films were awesome! :) Seriously, one person thinking a film sucks and one person thinking it rules happens all the time, no need to get in a panic about it ;)
Anyway, I think this has a lot of potential, and hey – at least it’s not Uwe Boll, right?
09/05/2008 at 10:19 Howard says:
/edit after Kierons Post/
Fine I give up. Whatever…
09/05/2008 at 10:23 Alec Meer says:
Your disagreement remains in its entirely, Howard. Only your insult doesn’t.
And I’m afraid I’ll be abusing my editing powers to remove any further shouting on this matter.
09/05/2008 at 10:23 John P (Katsumoto) says:
It’s just that the rules of this site say “no personal attacks” – you made a personal attack so it got edited out, a “first strike” if you will. That was the problem, not the fact you disagreed.
If you visit Eurogamer and read some comments there, you will see why I heartily agree with this policy of our RPS overlords!
09/05/2008 at 10:23 Slappeh says:
Only pussies use insults.
Real men debate!
(Or fight with lazers, either way suits me fine)
09/05/2008 at 10:23 Ian says:
I loved PotC one, the second was also very good I thought aside from spending too much time on that damn island at the start.
The problem with the third was there was too much going on in the first hour. I thought the second half pulled it together and
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER (in case Kieron changes his mind about seeing the third later ;))
SPOOOOOOIIIIIIIIILEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERS
and the bit at the when Davey Jones stabs Will and Jack looks genuinely devastated was one of the betters parts of the trilogy (not just because Will’s an irritating wimp :D) and actually made Jack seem like less of a cock than he had done for most of the previous one and a half films to that point.
SPOILERS OVER
So back on topic, while I need to get back to Bioshock I like what Verbinski did with the PotC films for the most part and so will look forward to this. At least it’s not Uwe Boll. ;)
09/05/2008 at 10:33 vordhosbn says:
Wow, this could end up being amazing. While I felt Bioshock’s gameplay to be a bit repetitious and lacking, the setting and plot were (apart from the final third) great and Gore Verbinski himself is a very competent director. I thought the first Pirates movie was brilliant, The Ring is my absolutely favourite horror movie ever and The Mexican was very fun if not all that memorable. So let’s just pretend the Pirates sequels never happened.
09/05/2008 at 10:35 Jonas says:
I wonder who’ll be writing the script. Clearly Verbinski is capable of directing a film well – if he has a good script to work with, I can’t see what the problem is.
I only hope they resist the temptation to throw in a Standard Hollywood Romance Subplot™. I like romance subplots, but in Bioshock I’m quite convinced it would seem fantastically tacked on. On the other hand, a film based on Bioshock would probably need more actual dialogue – like, say, a protagonist who can speak :P
09/05/2008 at 10:35 Paul Moloney says:
I guess this means I must actually go back and finish Bioshock; I bought the special edition after being wowed by the demo. But like some people, for me the game ran slightly jerky compared to the demo and I could never get the mouse movement to feel right; lots of niggling irritations meant that I just never got into it. But, I really do want to see how it all pans out, so once I finish Thief DS, it’s back to Rapture…
Oh, and the first PotC film was wonderful, and the next 2 were meh. This is FACT.
P.
09/05/2008 at 10:37 Jochen Scheisse says:
Except for Jack and of course the bad guy, few of the main characters in PotC had enough personality for more than one movie. That is why 2 and 3 got filled with a lot of stuff that was totally irrelevant to the story or the characters of the protagonists.
Also, if you liked The Ring, try out the Japanese originals. I find them 10.7% scarier with only a 6.4% decrease in production value, which results in a 4.3% net gain in awesomeness.
09/05/2008 at 10:37 Alec Meer says:
Oh – the script’s being written by the guy who penned the Aviator. Which I haven’t seen, so can’t say anything to upset its fans.
09/05/2008 at 10:38 Jonas says:
As I recall, The Aviator was… adequate. Not very memorable, but pretty decently written. Its central character portrait was quite nicely done.
[EDIT OF BELATED RESEARCH] A quick check of IMDB reveals he (John Logan) also wrote The Last Samurai, which I thought was nice, The Time Machine, which I found to be a quite entertaining adventure film with many good ideas, and Gladiator, which was generally full of goodness (although I’d attribute most of that to Ridley Scott).
I reckon this track record makes a romance subplot pretty much inevitable, however :)
09/05/2008 at 10:44 Morph says:
General agreement that PotC 1 = awesome, 2 & 3 = badness. But with the nasty taste of 3 in my mouth, I’m cautiously optimistic about the Bioshock movie.
Underwater Bladerunner sounds pretty good to me.
09/05/2008 at 10:46 Crispy says:
If anyone were to do a Bioshock film it should be alongside Marc Caro. He was largely responsible for the art direction and writing of 4-year project Cité des enfants perdus. This is exactly the sort of person who could do Rapture justice.
09/05/2008 at 10:47 Gap Gen says:
“Oh – the script’s being written by the guy who penned the Aviator. Which I haven’t seen, so can’t say anything to upset its fans.”
Yes you can! Watch: I found [FILM NAME]‘s dialogue to be turgid and stilted. Every word coming out of [INSERT LEAD ACTOR'S NAME HERE] mouth sounded like a little piece of his soul disintegrating. I would rather floss my ears with barbed wire than see that film again.
09/05/2008 at 10:48 Crispy says:
If anyone were to do a Bioshock film it should be alongside Marc Caro. He was largely responsible for the art direction and writing of 4-year project Cité des enfants perdus (watch the video trailer to see what I mean). This is exactly the sort of person who could do Rapture justice.
09/05/2008 at 10:48 Dorian Cornelius Jasper says:
One could always take an indirect jab at Howard Hughes fans, instead. So! How ’bout that Spruce Goose?
09/05/2008 at 10:48 Jonas says:
Crispy, how about Scott Sinclair, Art Director on the actual game? He could at least consult a bit for them.
09/05/2008 at 10:54 Gulag says:
Is it safe to come in now?
I can speak for neither BioShock, having not played it, nor The Pirates of the Carribbean, having not seen all of them. However I will offer this observation on the Game-to-Movie phenom.
“Halo: The Movie – Evolved” would have been the best movie Evar!
It was big, stupid, explodey and georgeous and had a story you could understand without the use of a frontal lobe. Perfect for Hollywood. (It also made abundent reuse of it’s sets, another good movie trick when cash is tight.)
Which is why I think Bioshock might just disappoint. Of course it’s got the right mix of beautiful setting plus that old staple of the horror flick, Mr. Zombie, all dressed up in 1920′s Art Deco chic, but I’m lead to believe that it is the moral dillemmas that raise the game above the common herd. Not an easy thing to translate to the big screen, especially when the actors are up to their bums in water. (Another bugbear of the movie business. Filming in water, not actors.)
I predict (If it ever gets made.) that “Bioshock-The Movie” will be another “Resident Evil” except underwater, in a nice dress. Don’t be suprised if they make the main character a woman, and give her a child to look after about 20 minutes in.
09/05/2008 at 10:56 Jonas says:
Actually in my (maybe not as) humble (as it should be) opinion, Bioshock’s moral dilemmas were fairly weak and disappointing. It was the plot twist, the different layers of story, and the game’s oodles and oodles of atmosphere that made it stand out.
Oh and they’re not technically zombies. But close enough.
09/05/2008 at 10:57 Man Raised By Puffins says:
I can’t even fathom how they’ll craft a good film from this. So much of what made the narrative work in the first place was because it was a game. Ho hum, guess I’ll have to wait and see.
09/05/2008 at 11:04 Jochen Scheisse says:
You insult the Spruce Goose, Sir? Pistols at Dawn!
09/05/2008 at 11:07 Dorian Cornelius Jasper says:
So be it. Have at you!
09/05/2008 at 11:08 Phil says:
I’m willing to wager five pounds this will be an underwater Aliens Vs Predators.
It will feature, in order;
Protagonist initially attacked by splicers, chased through tunnels until they find a wretch and get pay back to the tune of ‘under the sea.’
1min objectivist tinged dialogue for every 20 splicers killed.
A touching unmasking of big daddy, who is then kissed on the cheek by a little sister, a soppy smile on his big, mishapen face, while all his eyes in unison weap.
Oh, and PoTC 3 was so bad I believe it’s actually carcinogenic.
09/05/2008 at 11:14 slang says:
Man, gamers are a strange breed. Most of them know shit about films and think they know all about games because they play them. I really wish all the selfproclaimed gaming experts would give Hollywood a break so they can just concentrate on the process of translating those interactive stories into proper cinamatic equivalents, step by step.
Hiring Verbinski and not some unknown shows that they take the source material seriously. All the POC films were basically perfect mainstream Hollywood style cinema, both from a technical and a storytelling perspective. Verbinski has a very good sense for organic designs and powerful, yet slightly darker, stories. It’s not like Hollywood is taking away the game by making a film. Gee!
09/05/2008 at 11:17 Jonathan says:
Am I the only person surprised Levine, a former script writer, isn’t writing it? Having played SWAT 4 and Bioshock I think he and the Cradle guy would also make pretty good director team.
Reply to Slang.
Oh is there nothing you won’t say.
09/05/2008 at 11:23 slang says:
@Jonathan
Remember it’s a Hollywood project. With such a huge budget involved ANY responsible producer would go for Verbinski instead of Levine. I’m sure Levine will have some sort of input…on a lower level.
09/05/2008 at 11:26 Irish Al says:
Pirates II was great Krak. En.
09/05/2008 at 11:29 Dan (WR) says:
I could see this working if it were played along the lines of Dark City, but I can’t see that happening.
I’m not sure how anyone can judge Verbinski’s potential for this based just on the PotC movies though. It’s a totally different kettle of fish. Not everyone in Hollywood does exactly the same thing time and time again (like Michael Bay), and he doesn’t have Bruckheimer and the weight and expectation of a big-money franchise looming over him now.
09/05/2008 at 11:33 Jonathan says:
Reply to slang
Given how miffed he seemed about EA taking his System Shock license it’ll be interesting how he’ll take this. He might even do an Alan Moore and refuse to acknowledge it. Or more likely just be really happy about finally making a commercialy successful game.
09/05/2008 at 11:35 Johann Tor says:
Did Andrew Ryan design Rapture for the arthouse crowd?
I doubt that Levine did that, even.
09/05/2008 at 11:36 Lucky says:
Fun(?) fact: Aviator was on television while I played through Fort Frolic (Floric? What the heck was it called?). Coincidence… or NOT?
09/05/2008 at 11:46 Alex says:
I hated all three Pirates movies. Overlong and boring.
09/05/2008 at 11:47 Kieron Gillen says:
Slang makes an important point: This isn’t the usual shitty videogame director. He’s come from an enormous successful series of films and chose to do this.
KG
09/05/2008 at 11:59 AbyssUK says:
Bioshock the film will start off brilliantly but then get boring in the middle and then end with the worst end fight of any film ever.
Just a guess..
Also can’t we just be happy that Uwe Boll isn’t going to be on the credits.. come on that gives this film at least a chance right??
Also PotC = Monkey Island so as PC gamers we HAVE TO LIKE IT!
09/05/2008 at 12:13 Homunculus says:
Nice that the rebuttal to Atlas Shrugged is also making the transition to film at around the same time.
09/05/2008 at 12:17 Heliocentric says:
eh… Silent hill had a style i wanted to see in a film (as the game was basicaly a film with playable action sequences) yeah, they kinda assed it up sure. But bioshock half that game was setting up traps and beating splicers over the head with a wrench while your hoarde of friendly-flying-gunbots do the real damage.
As nice as bioshock was? i’d say system shock would be a better movie, only problem is 2001 was already made.
09/05/2008 at 12:20 Jochen Scheisse says:
No really, I think the Hollywood adaption of Prince of Persia: Sands of Time, announced for 2009, has more potential by far.
But that might be because I actually played that one >.<
09/05/2008 at 12:51 James G says:
While the Bioshock universe could easily form the basis of a film, I have a hard time seeing how the events of the game itself could form an interesting narative. The main story delivered in the game was through the diaries, and although there was the whole Ryan/Atlas/Fontaine situation, with which you got more directly involved, this still relied on the background you uncovered in your exploration of Rapture. It is difficult to see how they will deliver this story more directly in a post-war rapture.
To be honest, I think a more interesting basis for a film would be the fall of Rapture. In this situation you have far more characters to play with. The diaries already gave some perspective of ordinary citizens of Rapture if it is felt that the big players would make for unsympathetic protagonists. Of course, this will bypass the whole ‘free will’ aspect of the game.
09/05/2008 at 13:18 Bozzley says:
Mouse Hunt (Verbinski’s first feature length film, I think) was brilliant. If he can make a good film based on a board game, I think he’s the best bet any film based on a computery videoey game can have.
09/05/2008 at 13:23 That Happy Cat says:
It’s unlikely that the film would follow the storyline entirely James G. So while you’re right about that not really translating to the screen, I’d argue that it matters not since the movie will simply deal with the themes of the game.
I’m already pencilled in as “Crumbling Mutant 6″… IMDB here I come!
09/05/2008 at 13:28 Shon says:
I am looking forward to the pair of lovable splicers who although wicked, amuse us with their comedic antics.
I have to admit I amazed that they attached a big director to this film. Considering that the standard procedure in Hollywood is to hire a guy who worked the third camera in a music video, I take this as a sign that least the studio is taking the movie seriously.
09/05/2008 at 13:31 Meat Circus says:
Dear Gore Verbinski,
Kindly fuck off and die,
KTHXBAI.
09/05/2008 at 13:41 Sören Höglund says:
Well, at least Verbinski can make pretty pictures, even though I don’t hold him in all that high regard as a director. Anyone claiming he’s a good storyteller hasn’t taken a good long look at the last two PotC movies . Mind you, he had an unfinished script to work with, but that doesn’t excuse the vast amounts of nothing in those movies. World’s End in particular was absolute garbage.
The first one was good fun though, even if it was half an hour too long.
09/05/2008 at 13:49 Muzman says:
There’s no need for fighting about this topic surely. What happens happens. They’ll probably lighten it up and make it PG
Let’s just think of the things we all can enjoy: tucking in to a nice meal of sea slug on a bed of freshly opened small child.
Gentlemen, to evil.
09/05/2008 at 13:53 slang says:
@Meat Circus
Very knowledgeable and intelligent comment. I’m sure Hollywood took notice;-)
Seriously, I think Verbinski isn’t a bad choice at all because of three factors:
1. He has a sense for that “aquatic” theme/ aestehetics which is very important because in a project like this artdirection and setdesign pretty much define the whole thing.
2. He knows how to handle a big budget Hollywood film. Levine might be a very talented writer but directing such a hollywood monster is certainly not his shoe size.
3. Verbinski demonstrateded that he can “retell”/ remake a story with the US remake of the Ring which was solid entertainment even if the original will always be the better one.
Many people in Hollywood and Europe (mainly France) are trying very hard to find a way to translate the worlds of videogames into movies. Although both media are very much based upon moving pictures and the creation of “virtual” space this still is a challenge. It will take time and failures but the efforts are clearly worth it. Imo those people really deserve proper support and constructive criticism and not the usual avalanche of fanboy hate.
09/05/2008 at 14:02 Malagate says:
This is what I was thinking of exactly, as I can’t really envision how they would recreate the storyline from the actual game into a good movie. However the whole rise and fall of Rapture would definately make a great movie, what with Ryan and Fontaine duking it out whilst the citizens undergo the horrors of genetic manipulation and face the morality of creating the Little Sisters and Big Daddies. It would work a lot better than “random mute guy finds way into Rapture, turns out to be some kind of hero and eventually saves the day”.
09/05/2008 at 14:26 Gilzor says:
I’m excited. Big time. I reckon Verbinski, who has been working with Levine a couple of sites have reported, will tell an original story that covers the fall of Rapture.
That way, we all get to see a brand new character set up for Rapture, possibly getting invited there by Ryan, discovering it (and by virtue of that, the audience too), only for the second Act to detail its downfall and how exactly that happened.
Key events from the game that were entirely player character-based likely won’t appear in the film.
This excites me tremendously because it’s the though of exploring Rapture at its inception, then detailing its downfall and the main character(s) escape that would best fit a film version. That way, we can have a fully-functioning main character who – y’know – talks n’stuff.
09/05/2008 at 14:26 cyrenic says:
I agree with James G. If they’re basing the movie off the game’s events and not the fall of Rapture, they’re missing an opportunity to not be tied down to the inherent gameyness of the storyline. They’d have to write in their own twists and stuff though.
From the way they’re talking it sounds like they’ve already decided to use the game’s time frame, which is a shame.
09/05/2008 at 14:32 Gilzor says:
ALSO: GEOFFREY RUSH FOR RYAN!!!
09/05/2008 at 14:36 Geoff says:
It seems like many are missing the point in their focus on “this is how I would do it”.
Listen, this is the guy who took an amusement park ride and turned it into a really likable movie. If there is anyone in the world qualified to turn a video game into a good movie, we’ve found him.
Loving the source material doesn’t make you qualified to turn it into a good new piece of work. And the guys who made a good video game aren’t necessarily the guys who would make a good movie.
This guy has the exact skill set needed for this job. Add in the Ring, and he’s got more history taking the work of others and turning it into a well-crafted movie.
Plus, as mentioned above, his selection is Hollywood showing us all that they take this seriously. You don’t get guarantees, it could still turn out bad for any number of reasons, but I doubt the reason will be that they picked GV to direct.
09/05/2008 at 14:41 Gap Gen says:
Yeah, I mean the major point of the game’s plot is that it is a game, not a film. The cleverness doesn’t work when translated into a film (indeed, I’ve argued the reverse – that novels and films shouldn’t be made directly into games – on the PC Gamer forums recently).
09/05/2008 at 15:11 Kieron Gillen says:
Geoff also makes another good point: That Pirates managed to turn a funpark ride into a film is the best counter against “Videogames intrinsically can’t be good movies”.
KG
09/05/2008 at 15:41 Matt says:
Well they are going to have to add characters as you can’t have the guy wandering about alone in a film. Furthermore, if it is a film of the game rather than a film using the same setting as the game everyone who played it has seen the plot and crucially the things the plot relied upon entirely, the plot twists.
Could be they will go down the route of basically making their own version of it. Also I think video games are basically treated as entertainment for the masses. It is hard to predict obviously but it seems more likely that the “philosophical complexity” some people felt was a strong feature of the game will be overwritten. That would fit in with the talk here about the fact that he made films from theme park rides. It may well be the game is viewed as a theme park ride in terms of the kind of entertainment it is meant to be, and the film will reflect that attitude.
Fairly cynical and speculative I know but those were my first thoughts when I read about it.
09/05/2008 at 15:41 Ian Dorsch says:
“If anyone were to do a Bioshock film it should be alongside Marc Caro. He was largely responsible for the art direction and writing of 4-year project Cité des enfants perdus (watch the video trailer to see what I mean). This is exactly the sort of person who could do Rapture justice.”
That. Would. Be. AWESOME.
But yeah, with Verbinski at the helm and the blessings (and possible collaboration?) of his buddy Ken Levine, this stands a chance of being the first truly awesome video game to film adaptation. As has been noted, the guy built a Hollywood mega-franchise out of a Disney ride. I don’t think Verbinski can take credit for Johnny Depp’s immensely quirky Oscar-nominated performance from the first Pirates movie, but he can certainly take credit for supporting and defending that sort of artistic risk when studio bigwigs were deeply skeptical. The talent that is already attached to the film is exciting, but Verbinski’s flare for attracting and nurturing talent in unpredictable ways makes it doubly so.
09/05/2008 at 16:04 dhex says:
Listen, this is the guy who took an amusement park ride and turned it into a really likable movie. If there is anyone in the world qualified to turn a video game into a good movie, we’ve found him.
while i am skeptical about the whole thing, this is a really good point. talk about turning nothing into something.
and at the very least it will look pretty. i do hope it keeps the “i burned my forest rather than give it to the feds” story because never have i cheered a game’s acting so hard and so heartfelt. we need more game characters telling the feds to go bone themselves with a rusty spoon.
(starts writing notes for “ruby ridge’s revenge”)
09/05/2008 at 16:07 Dracko says:
This is a good candidate for “least surprising gaming news ever”.
Over-rated, shiny turd of a game to be directed by a man waxing poetics about gaming’s “untapped potential” but barely likely of producing anything different in the current marketplace? I should have bet on it.
09/05/2008 at 16:10 James T says:
Phil: Judging by the conversion process, BDs have the standard amount of eyes.
Oo, what’s all this then?
09/05/2008 at 16:15 Gilzor says:
Dracko, do you enjoy being the vocal minority?
09/05/2008 at 16:20 Hieremias says:
I don’t get the “they turned a funpark ride into a film” argument. No they didn’t. They made a movie about pirates (and they’re not the first to do so). They then named it after a popular ride that had pirates. That’s it. What else did they take from the ride other than the name?
Also, I credit PotC (both the good one and the bad two) to Jerry Bruckheimer. They have his signature style all over them, whereas the movies don’t even remotely resemble Verbinski’s other works.
09/05/2008 at 16:35 Muzman says:
I think ‘Atlas Shrugged’s own adaptation will be along at the same time too.
About the Pirates movies being based on a ride and that’s some sort of recommendation; I don’t know about that at all. It seems substantially easier to me to take what is basically a setting and throw in a lot of elements and make it half decent. Whereas something with actual content, a lot of which is designed to work in a media specific way, is several orders of magnitude more complex to adapt, particularly if you want to keep as much of said content as possible. They’ve called this flick an ‘adventure’ story already, presumably based on it being a “shooter”, and it basically has to be a big budget tent pole picture. Despite how the game is played, I’m not sure that really says ‘Rapture’ to me. All Verbinskis good films have basically been comedies (Mouse Hunt, Pirates) and he introduces a large amount of slam-bang obviousness in to one of the most low key “horror” films ever, to Americanise it (even though the end result was pretty good). So I think Bioshock the Adventure film is a pretty good guess for the way it’ll go. Whither serious subtext and moral ambiguity, I ask?
09/05/2008 at 17:06 Jay says:
It’ll be shit. It always is.
09/05/2008 at 17:22 Subjective Effect says:
Really what has this got to do with the PotC films? They are mindless, fun action flicks with a bit of humour and a heavy dose of unreality.
This BioShock film should share nothing with them.
o lol, lo Muz o/
09/05/2008 at 17:26 Geoff says:
@Muzman,
Yes, I think we agree on most of the points. Everyone is arguing over what he’ll do with the story, or the main character, or the experience of playing it, and I expect the answer to almost all these questions is:
That stuff is part of the videogame. He’ll throw that stuff out and make a good movie.
I doubt he spent millions of dollars and months of shooting in a struggle to stay true to the source material of the amusement park ride. He just took the good stuff he could use and made an entertaining movie. Yes, I suppose if you loved the ride, you could leave the theater shaking your fist – “That’s not the amusement park ride I went on!” but that just says something bad about your expectations, not his film.
No, Bioshock the movie won’t be like your experience with Bioshock the game. It’ll be a movie. But I think if there’s anyone we can trust to take a bunch of the good parts (like atmosphere and concept) from the game and transition them successfully into a good (but very, very different) piece of entertainment, it’s this guy.
09/05/2008 at 17:28 Benjamin Barker says:
Nobody mentioned that Verbinski directed The Ring, which is what I first thought of. Bioshock genuinely made me quivering-stomach scared at times, and so did The Ring. Plus, the common thread of creepy little girls! So it sounds kind of promising actually.
09/05/2008 at 17:45 Subjective Effect says:
The Ring was a really, really poor copy of Ringu. Really bad. Terrible. A pox. It looked nice, had good actors etc etc Naomi yum yes, but it just misses the point.
I didn’t realise he directed that. That bodes badly for BioShock.
09/05/2008 at 18:08 Bozzley says:
Two words.
MOUSE HUNT.
The Bioshock film can’t help but be amazing.
09/05/2008 at 18:44 Nick says:
I really liked the first Pirates, the second just felt like an excuse for the third though, as nothing much happened but some rolling down hills fighting and plot set up for the final installment – which was annoying as the first worked best as a self contained film.
Not to mention that game they played on Davey’s ship made no fucking sense at all and annoyed me a lot.
Never watched the third as a result of the let down.
So.. it could be good, could be bad, butat least it’s not Uwe Boll.
Not sure how it will work as most people interested in the game have played it and thus know the big reveal and so forth.
09/05/2008 at 18:47 Fumarole says:
Well, at least it’s not Boll.
09/05/2008 at 18:48 slang says:
@Subjective
Funny how you manage to put in so many adjectives to emphasize your aversion for the remake and yet you fail to give one single reason why it “misses the point” in your opinion.
The point about the funpark ride is imo a good one because it shows that the man not only managed to come up with a very successful pirate movie but also had enough business skills to connect it to an equally successful ride – a quality which is very appreciated when dealing with blockbustersized movies. For the Bioshock movie this could mean that Verbinski might be one of those directors who is actually able to think outside the box, respecting the source while transforming it for the big screen.
09/05/2008 at 19:11 Muzman says:
His business skills had very little to do with it, I suspect. Disney had been shopping ride tie-ins for years. Pirates wasn’t even the first
09/05/2008 at 19:13 Hieremias says:
Yeah, don’t credit Verbinski with the savvy to connect a movie to a ride. He was hired long after the movie had been greenlit and the ball had gotten rolling. It was Bruckheimer’s baby.
09/05/2008 at 19:31 roryok says:
euch… I can see it already
Our one protagonist will become a gang of 4-6 multi-ethnic stereotyped ‘misfits’, probably international smugglers or some bollocks, at least some of them played by christian slater, vin diesel, arnold voslo, paul walker, or maybe colin farrell to keep that atlas feeling.
Rapture will be some kind of abandoned military complex, full of CGI monsters instead of splicers. Oh, and they’ll befriend a big daddy like some sort of mute robbie the robot who can fight.
09/05/2008 at 20:38 nowak says:
Geoff also makes another good point: That Pirates managed to turn a funpark ride into a film is the best counter against “Videogames intrinsically can’t be good movies”.
They made a funpark ride into a fun movie. Not exactly a giant leap of faith there. The ‘good’ part is up to debate.
09/05/2008 at 20:40 Leeks! says:
Let’s be honest, though: An arthouse Bioshock film would be hilariously awful no matter who was at the helm. It’s about an underwater city where everyone is addicted to magic drugs and monsters in Victorian diving suits wander around yelling randomly. Actually, now that I re-read that last sentence, that actually sounds like a great arthouse flick.
09/05/2008 at 20:51 The Shed says:
“…At least name-checking free will-”y? I sure hope so. There’s a lot to learn from that classic series.
As James G said, the film would probably be fine as long as it didn’t go very near the events of the game. The scenes in a game are constructed for a game scenario and often wouldn’t work with a cinema ethic.
If the film did something interesting, like categorized the rise and fall of Rapture in a dramatic (documentary?) way, THAT would be worth seeing. Heavily character based action is more predictable, but won’t be as interesting (at least to me) unless it’s really pulled off well. I’d say Bioshock: THE MOVIE has a lot of potential, even if it is pissing gamers off right left and centre.
Edits- Verbinski did The Ring? Hurm. I don’t really respect it, but at least it was better than pretty much all the other American remakes of classic J horror- it was actually decent. Also according to the IMDB page for Bioshock (-the game, yeah I don’t get why it’s there either) the Gene Bank was originally called the Plasmi-Quik. That’s awesome.
09/05/2008 at 21:09 The Shed says:
Shit my comment’s set. Sorry for the DP.
@Subjective Effect.
“The Ring was a really, really poor copy of Ringu. Really bad. Terrible. A pox. It looked nice, had good actors etc etc Naomi yum yes, but it just misses the point.
I didn’t realise he directed that. That bodes badly for BioShock.” (How the hell do I make that quoted)
Are you talking about the J novels or J movies? Verbinski basically just re-propped the J movie. I agree the J movie had little to do with the novel, and missed a hunk of the point- but it was still good and had a (fairly) coherent story. Verbinski’s adaptation was a damn fine one as these go, and shows that he can easily do film. Which bodes well for Bioshock.
09/05/2008 at 22:29 Anthony Damiani says:
Honestly, I’ll just be going to ogle the architecture.
09/05/2008 at 22:38 Nimic. says:
I really liked the first Pirates film. As in, one of the best action-films I’ve seen. The other two weren’t good at all, of course. Though I agree with everyone who has said that this should be about Rapture before the fall (and during). That would actually make for a pretty good story.
Oh, and I have no idea how involved he was with The Ring (if he basically copied the original or what), but that’s the only horror movie I’ve ever been genuinely terrified of. I’m usually too logical to get scared by movies like that, but The Ring had me. Of course, The Ring 2 didn’t scare me at all, since it seemed to “change the rules”, and in my mind that ruined everything. First you’ve got to copy it, then you’ve got to show the movie to someone else. Oh, and she can get you anyway. At least keep scary illogical stuff consistent.
/rant
10/05/2008 at 03:33 DigitalSignalX says:
It bears reminding that many rather decent movies have been inspired from far less creative origins then video games and comics. I’m thinking of things like 20 page short stories, campy noir and science fiction pulp, etc which I suspect everyones initial reaction was “how could they make a movie from that?”
10/05/2008 at 06:43 SixStringSamurai says:
Wth? I can scarce believe there are people who, dare i say it, dislike Bioshock? Maybe they like, have old computers? Unbelievable!
*gasp!
10/05/2008 at 08:05 malkav11 says:
Verbinski’s “The Ring” is the only J-horror remake I’ve ever liked better than the original. It just oozed tension. Then again, that might have something to do with the order I saw it in…it was my first exposure to the J-horror phenomenon. All the others, I saw the original Asian movie first and the American remake later or not at all.
10/05/2008 at 12:19 arqueturus says:
I think this has potential at least.
Gore has a fairly good track record overall, Mousehunt was a thing of awesome and you can’t lay the blame of the last two PotC films entirely on his doorstep as they just fell to the usual diminishing returns law of Hollywood blockbuster Sequels. He does seem to have the knack of getting good ingredients together (script, cast, production) and baking them into a tasty dish
It could certainly turn out to be brilliant and that’s a big start, most game to movie licences don’t even have such a rich foundation as Bioshock to work with.
My fingers are firmly crossed.
12/05/2008 at 06:49 Subjective Effect says:
@SixStringSamurai
BioShock is a shell of the game it should be. We were promised so much more and really all we got was something that is deeper than the usual FPS fare – it wows Haloites and so on. For anyone who played System Shock 2 (and is was billed as the “spiritual successor” to SS2) it was an exercise in frustration. The key moment is just that – nothing amazing precedes nor follows it (though it was good). The rest of it is just a massive hint at what could have been.
As to The Ring – it’s too in your face. Ringu was much more of a psychological horror. Yes, it delivers the boogaboos at the end but it was subtle and horrifying. The Ring is full of “He couldn’t see me!” Arnie-in-Predator moments. I understand why some people like that as it’s more accessible but that’s the problem – The Ring assumes you and it aren’t capable of engaging with the horror that is in the mind. And when you set out like that you pretty much fulfill your prophecy.
12/05/2008 at 17:10 YogSo says:
All this discussion about the pros and cons of translating videogames into movies, and I’m very surprised no one has thought about the possibility of this occurring:
Bioshock · The Movie – The Videogame, the official adaptation of the acclaimed film, coming soon to every platform… :-P You know it may happen…
18/05/2008 at 20:07 Gnarkill666 says:
dude wow i don’t give a rats ass about what any of u shitheads say about the last 2 pirates movie they were awsome! and this is about bioshock so SHUT UP!i think doin this movie would be
sick and think verbinski can make good monsters(splicers) and the ring was actually good i hear someone that worked on sweeney todd will work on this so combine verbinskis water and zombies and his thrill the ring with sweeney todds bloody delightfullness my theory is that this movie will be the shit and the game was cool to it would be awsome if they had it in first person it would give u the excitment of cloverfield!rock hard!
06/06/2008 at 15:51 sana says:
I request the rat’s ass to be given immediately.
17/11/2010 at 11:45 Dalton Ovitt says:
Why is it that the content jogs my memory of another similar person that I just read in other places?
17/11/2010 at 20:41 Logan Prata says:
Amazing document, well written I have to admit.