Francis Lawrence Says Netflix Turmoil Is Complicating the ‘BioShock’ Movie

Few video game adaptations have spent as long sinking beneath the waves as ‘BioShock’. Gore Verbinski, the filmmaker behind ‘The Ring’ and the ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ trilogy, was once attached to direct before that version fell apart over budget and creative issues. For fans of the 2007 game, the idea of seeing Rapture on screen has felt like a mirage for years.

Netflix finally stepped in. The streamer announced that Francis Lawrence, known for ‘The Hunger Games: Catching Fire’ and ‘I Am Legend’, would direct the live-action adaptation, with Michael Green of ‘Logan’ and ‘Blade Runner 2049’ writing the screenplay. That was in 2022, and the road since then has been anything but smooth.

Now Lawrence has offered another candid check-in, and it’s a mix of reassurance and frustration. The director has confirmed that the live-action ‘BioShock’ movie is still in development, though he made clear that cracking this particular story is no easy task. He described the challenge of turning a game where the player is the protagonist into a character-driven film, calling the process “tricky” while insisting that “we’re getting close.”

Lawrence was just as blunt about the corporate side of things. He pointed to the “regime changes” at Netflix as an obstacle he’d rather not deal with, adding that he hopes the team will “figure it out.” It’s a rare moment of a major director openly acknowledging that studio politics are part of the problem.

None of this comes out of nowhere. Dan Lin has taken over from Scott Stuber as Netflix’s head of film since the movie was first announced. At San Diego Comic-Con in 2024, producer Roy Lee said the project was being “reconfigured” at the streamer.

The reconfiguration came with a price tag. The film was reported to have a significantly reduced budget, with Lee describing a “much smaller version” and a “more personal point of view.” For a property built around an art deco underwater city, that’s a notable shift in ambition.

Meanwhile, the script has kept moving. In a recent interview with IGN, Lawrence confirmed the film is still in development and revealed that screenwriter Justin Rhodes has joined the project and delivered a new draft. Lawrence said he had just received that draft and had a meeting scheduled with the writer, calling it a very strong possibility.

There’s also the matter of what the movie will actually adapt. Lee has said the film is definitely going to be based on the first ‘BioShock’ game. That means the story will follow Jack, the unlucky survivor who ends up in the underwater city of Rapture.

Scheduling hasn’t helped either. Lee explained that ‘BioShock’ was delayed so more script work could be done, which gave Lawrence time to shoot ‘The Long Walk’ while already committed to the next ‘Hunger Games’ movie. That prequel, ‘Sunrise on the Reaping’, was shooting in Spain for a November 2026 release, which puts ‘BioShock’ on deck once Lawrence wraps his dystopian duties.

Outside the film world, the franchise is also in flux. 2K recently confirmed it had overhauled the long-awaited ‘BioShock 4’, which has been in development for the last decade. Roy Lee has previously said Netflix and Take-Two are eager for the movie to coincide with potential new incarnations of the game.

For now, the picture is cautiously hopeful but far from settled. There is still no release date, and the movie hasn’t started shooting. Netflix hasn’t shared any casting details either.

Still, Lawrence sounds like a filmmaker who hasn’t given up on the dive. He previously told GamesRadar+ that he has been dying to make the adaptation and feels good about the script. Whether Netflix’s shifting leadership lets him finish the descent is the question fans will be asking until Rapture finally surfaces.