Filmmaker Francis Lawrence has been attached to the film adaptation of the “BioShock” video game franchise for four years now.
The “Constantine” and “I Am Legend” filmmaker has spent much of his professional career steering “The Hunger Games” franchise, including the three sequels in the mid-2010s, along with 2023’s “The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes” and this year’s “Sunrise on the Reaping”.
He also helmed last year’s well-received adaptation of Stephen King’s “The Long Walk”. All those projects have kept him busy and away from other IP, but it has been looking more and more likely his “BioShock” will come next.
Now the film’s producer Roy Lee, out promoting indie film “Psycho Killer,” tells Collider that the film is still very much progressing and should commence once post-production of “The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping” wraps. Timing is also coming into play as a factor now:
“We would have gotten it made a few years back, but then other movies got in the way, with one being The Long Walk and the other being The Hunger Games prequel, which comes out this December.
We’re just waiting for him [Francis] to finish post-production, because he’s going to be working on it through at least September, and then jump back into it. I know that Netflix and Take-Two are very anxious to see the movie come out because they want to have the release coincide with some of the potential new incarnations of the game.”
As for when actual filming would begin, Lee says:
“It’s steadily on the path, but you know how it goes. It’s…so many things could get in the way, but I know that the intent is to hopefully get in production next year.”
Should it film next year, then a 2028 release seems likely. The news comes in the wake of filmmaker Gore Verbinski, who was attached to the project for years before Lawrence came onboard, talking about how great the project they had planned was.
