Gamers are certainly familiar with the difficulties major movie studios have with making a film adaptation of the most popular video games, and the even greater struggle to make such a game adaptation that is well received. The Uncharted movie has been the most recent notorious game adaptation to see a long string of production snags, and most people who are aware of that project’s struggles might probably also recall that a BioShock film was close to being a reality less than a decade ago. Now, the franchise’s fans finally know just how close the cancelled BioShock film was to being filmed, thanks to new information from the director who was set to helm the project.

A new Ask Me Anything session on Reddit with the cancelled BioShock film director Gore Verbinski, best known as the director of “Pirates of the Caribbean” and “The Ring”, to promote his new film “A Cure For Wellness” revealed that the project was only eight weeks away from filming when the studio pulled the plug on the project. Verbinski claims the studio cancelled the project largely due to the film being an R-rated, high budget film, which he was adamant the film should be to stay faithful to the original work. The film was scheduled to film in 2009, which is around the time such big budget R-rated films as “Watchmen” were failing at the box office. Verbinski’s refusal to adhere to the studio’s pressure to lower the film’s budget and/or reduce the content to a PG-13 rating led to his expulsion from the project. As he says:

“A Cure For Wellness”, we were able to really utilize a variety of location to create the world. “Bioshock” it wouldn’t work like that, we’d be building an entire underworld universe. So I think the combination of the price tag and the rating, universal just didn’t feel comfortable ultimately.”

Despite this history, Verbinski still believes that the film could still happen as a big budget R-rated film, especially in light of the massive success Deadpool found at the box office last year. What do you guys think? Are you sad to hear that the cancelled BioShock film was just weeks away from filming when it was cancelled? Let us know in the comments below how you feel about the future of this project!

Be sure to stay tuned for the latest BioShock news, such as this fan who recreated the game’s city of Rapture with Lego bricks, here on Don’t Feed the Gamers! Also be sure to follow our Twitter and Disqus profiles for our updates the minute they go live!