Netflix’s BioShock movie heads to Rapture with an exciting director/writer duo

BioShock movie
(Image credit: 2K Games)

The BioShock movie is officially moving forward at Netflix – and the streamer has announced the creative forces behind the adaptation of the hit video game series.

As per Netflix’s Tudum, Francis Lawrence will helm the BioShock movie. Lawrence has had a prolific career so far, directing Constantine, I Am Legend, and four Hunger Games movies. He’s also behind the camera for Netflix’s upcoming movie Slumberland, starring Jason Momoa. In-between all that, he somehow found time to direct some of the 2000s most iconic music videos. "Sk8er Boi" and "Cry Me a River" to Rapture? Now that is range.

Screenwriter Michael Green will be penning the script. He may not be a household name, but you know his work: he helped write both Logan and Blade Runner 2049, the latter of which earned him an Oscar nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay.

In its initial announcement, Netflix namechecks Rapture multiple times – hinting that we’ll be going under the sea to the art deco utopia instead of taking to the skies to Bioshock Infinite’s setting of Columbia.

This isn’t the first time a BioShock movie has attempted to get off the ground, however. Pirates of the Caribbean director Gore Verbinski told Collider that his stab at a big-budget BioShock movie never got going due to budget concerns.

"It was strange, my first meeting at Universal on BioShock was sitting in a room and saying, 'Hey guys, this is a $200 million R rated movie. And it was silent... And I think everybody at the studio was well, yeah, okay, maybe. Wow, no. It's big, we know."

Netflix, though, is seeing it through to the end. It joins the just-announced Horizon Zero Dawn series, too. No release date yet – but would you kindly watch it when it’s out?

For more from the streamer, be sure to check out the best Netflix movies.

Bradley Russell

I'm the Senior Entertainment Writer here at GamesRadar+, focusing on news, features, and interviews with some of the biggest names in film and TV. On-site, you'll find me marveling at Marvel and providing analysis and room temperature takes on the newest films, Star Wars and, of course, anime. Outside of GR, I love getting lost in a good 100-hour JRPG, Warzone, and kicking back on the (virtual) field with Football Manager. My work has also been featured in OPM, FourFourTwo, and Game Revolution.