The BioShock Movie May Have a Director

While I think a movie based on Take-Two Interactive’s BioShock is a terrible idea, at least Universal Pictures hasn’t tapped Uwe Boll to direct it. Variety reports that Juan Carlos Fresnadillo (28 Weeks Later) is in talks to replace previous director Gore Verbinski (Pirates of the Caribbean), who abandoned the video game adaptation to direct an animated film called Rango, starring Johnny Depp.

As gamers already know, the primary appeal of BioShock is its atmosphere. Exploring the creepy, ruined underwater utopia of Rapture is incredibly rewarding, as is discovering bits and pieces of the narrative on your own. Being spoon-fed that experience in a feature film just doesn’t seem like it would work all that well.

And I think that’s the reason why no video game adaptation—no matter how good—will ever stack up against the source material. These stories are meant to be interactive, and we’re supposed to be the protagonist. No film can replicate that level of immersion.

However, I enjoyed 28 Weeks Later, so I’ll give Fresnadillo the benefit of the doubt. For now.