Take Two: "[it's] extremely well-suited to film"
Evidently the success of 2K Games' sci-fi shooter-ish masterpiece thing has been such that it warrants a film production. And not just any film production, a Hollywood film production. Dun dun dun. The film is set to be directed by Pirates of the Caribbean director Gore Verbinski under Universal Pictures. Honestly, I'm not sure what to think about that. Either he's got a whole demented side to him just waiting to be unleashed with the right project, or BioShock is gonna get butchered good. (Update: He also directed The Ring.) Apparently Verbinski is a big BioShock fan though (thank God):
"BioShock fans appreciate the depth and complexity of the game," Christoph Hartmann, President of 2K Games, noted. "And our partnership with Gore Verbinski will introduce the world of Rapture to an even wider audience. In addition to his impressive body of work, Gore is an avid video gamer and true fan of BioShock. That was extremely important to us in deciding to move forward with this project."
John Logan, writer of Gladiator, The Aviator and Sweeney Todd, is being considered for the screenplay.
Take-Two Interactive, owners of 2K are pumped. Check out this quote from its chairman Strauss Zelnick:
"BioShock has been hailed as one of the most highly cinematic and richly plotted titles in interactive entertainment, making it extremely well-suited to film... Our ability to attract a major studio and unparalleled creative team speaks volumes about the strength of our BioShock franchise."
I'm imagining they'd be pretty protective of something like this, so here's hoping it is in the right hands.
As for how this will fit in with the BioShock storyline, that's hard to say. The sequel is planned for next year, so the film could be released before or after, really. It would be interesting if and how the sequel's storyline would be changed to complement the film.
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Most game movies sound like a dumb idea -- but this one could totally work out well.
Funny how Ken Levine was like a not-as-successful scriptwriter / playwright guy before getting into games, and now that his game is a big hit, Hollywood is all over doing a movie about Bioshock. Maybe 'funny' isn't the right word..but its neat how things worked out.