author: Michael Zegar
Bioshock Creator on the Cancelled Movie and No Commitment to New Installment
BioShock creator Ken Levine has spoken out about his involvement in the fourth installment of the series and revealed whether he'll be playing it. He also commented on the behind-the-scenes situation of the cancelled movie and shared his thoughts on Hollywood.
- Ken Levine confessed that he is in no way involved in the production of the fourth part of BioShock.
- He stated that the cancelled film adaptation of the game "might have been a good picture, but not necessarily a good BioShock".
Last year was full of leaks about Cloud Chamber Studio's BioShock 4. It's worth recalling that the previous installments of the series - except for part two, which was created by 2K Marin - were the responsibility of the now-defunct Irrational Games team.
It is said that the main writer of the original BioShock and BioShock Infinite, Ken Levine, has been developing a new game with his studio Ghost Story Games. In an interview with Arcade Attack he answered whether he is involved in the production of the fourth installment of the series(49:19):
I am not involved in this project in any way. I don't want to play around with half-measures. I don't want to be involved in something only half-heartedly. I wish them the best. I know as much about this game as any other gamer, and I will play it as a gamer when it comes out.
Levine also commented on the movie adaptation of BioShock which was to be directed by Gore Verbinski, known for directing A Cure for Wellness and the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy. According to the director's statement last year, the reason for the cancellation of the project was the studio which did not want to give him $200 million for an R-rated movie. When asked how he participated in the production of the adaptation, Levine replied(49:53):
This was a situation where I would have liked to have been more involved, but I wasn't invited on board. I had some conversations with the label, but I never saw the script [...]. Sometimes the goals... hmm.... goals of filmmakers are not the same as the people who built the brand, and I don't find that to be a positive thing. I think it's good when we have a strong interaction here [most likely a collaboration between filmmakers and developers - ed] (...).
I think the story they wanted to tell was not necessarily BioShock. (...) Now almost all Hollywood movies are based on some reference material, because Hollywood doesn't trust itself to invent things anymore. So if you have a book or a comic book or a game, it's much easier to adapt that than to create something new[51:05].
Levine gave as an example a certain well-known filmmaker - whom he did not mention by name - who asked him in a meeting if "BioShock had to be set underwater?". The developer said in an interview that he prefers things and characters that people have grown to love while playing games in the series he started to make to remain intact and unchanged.
I think they [the filmmakers - ed] liked the visuals of BioShock but the story and the characters didn't really work for them. So what I heard about the adaptation wasn't necessarily going in the right direction, and at some point it was up to me to decide if they could continue - and I was lucky that the studio was willing to give me that power. I felt they would make a movie that could be good, but it wouldn't be BioShock, so I kept it[51:40].
