Universal Pictures has put the brakes on Bioshock, the Gore Verbinski directed live-action adaptation of the bestselling Take-Two Interactive video game of the same name.
The project was in pre-production, but the studio has and let some production staff go as they and Verbinski figure out a way to make the film on a less costly budget.
The film, written by John Logan, was gearing up to shoot in Los Angeles, but that changed when the budget rose to about $160 million. The studio and Verbinski are looking at alternatives, such as shooting in London, as a way to lower costs.
The story takes place in the underwater city Rapture, where a pilot crash-lands near a secret entrance and becomes involved in a power struggle there.
“We were asked by Universal to move the film outside the U.S. to take advantage of a tax credit,” Verbinski said. “We are evaluating whether this is something we want to do. In the meantime, the film is in a holding pattern.”
Verbinski and sources at the studio say they are determined to get the film off the ground. Indeed, Verbinski, who has also been directing the Paramount animated film Rango, bowed out of directing a fourth installment of Pirates of the Caribbean so he could work on Bioshock and produce under his Blind Wink banner.
Studio sources said that the budget simply became untenable, but Universal sources said the situation is no different than when the studio delayed the start of the untitled Robin Hood picture that Ridley Scott is now directing with Russell Crowe starring. The studio is making that picture for $130 million, a much smaller budget than first figured. For a number of reasons that included the need for extra script work, that picture temporarily halted, which enabled Crowe to star in State Of Play when Brad Pitt fell out.
All parties vow that Bioshock will not become another Halo, the would-be live-action adaptation of the Microsoft game that was canceled when Universal and Fox got cold feet over budget fears.
source: Variety.
