BioShock film bill “extraordinarily high”

BioShock film producer Gore Verbinski has insisted the project hasn’t drowned but is treading water while the team tries to reduce an “extraordinarily high” budget.

“We’re working trying to make it,” Verbinski told IGN Movies.

“The problem with BioShock is: R-rated movie, underwater, horror. It’s a really expensive R-rated movie. So we’re trying to figure out a way working with [director] Juan Carlos [Fresnadillo] to get the budget down and still keep so it’s true to the core audience, you know?

“The thing is it has to be R, a hard R,” he added.

Verbinski doesn’t want to make films based on videogames, but said the story of BioShock had “really good bones”.

“We don’t want to dumb it down,” he offered, “we don’t want to make it PG-13. We want to keep it really edgy, and it’s a huge bill.”

Verbinski had been in line to direct BioShock but stood aside to allow Juan Carlos Fresnadilo (28 Weeks Later) the honour.