Verbinski Says a Hard R BioShock Movie is Still in the Works

IGN talked with filmmaker Gore Verbinski last week (at the same event for Rango we attended) and got a quick update on the status of the BioShock movie, but more importantly he spoke about how it "has to be R, a hard R." A video game movie that's hard R? I don't think Universal will ever make this movie (they already canceled Verbinski's original version due to budget constraints) especially after the mediocre performance of the video game movie Prince of Persia.

It was announced last August that Pirates helmer Gore Verbinski would no longer be directing BioShock, only producing. Instead, 28 Weeks Later director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo landed the job, but then put the project on the backburner to direct Intruders instead. And as for whether Prince of Persia will have any impact on it, Verbinski thinks it won't. "No, I think BioShock's a rare one because it's actually a great story." I agree, but I don't think Universal will recognize that, they'll be more concerned about why Prince of Persia failed than how this could be a big success, if don't correctly. As for its status, here's what Verbinski said:

"We're working trying to make it. The problem with BioShock was: R-rated movie, underwater, horror. It's a really expensive R-rated movie," he explained. "So we're trying to figure out a way working with [director] Juan Carlos [Fresnadillo] to get the budget down and still keep so it's true to the core audience, you know? The thing is it has to be R, a hard R."

http://www.firstshowing.net/2010/07/04/verbinski-says-a-hard-r-bioshock-movie-is-still-in-the-works/