Up until now, it’s been Pirates Of The Caribbean’s Gore Vebinski who’s been attached to direct the videogame adaptation, Bioshock. However after suggesting a couple of months ago that he may have to drop out, he’s now stepped aside and Variety says that 28 Weeks Later helmer, Juan Carlos Frenadillo, is in talks to take his place on the film.
While Verbinski is still attached as producer, the change of director is apparently down to the fact that Universal wants to keep the budget on Bioshock as low as possible, by shooting outside the US to take advantage of tax breaks and favourable exchange rates. In fact the studio nearly dropped the project altogether over budget issues earlier this year, when they realised it would cost $160 million to make.
Since then they’ve been working on ways to make it cheaper, including going overseas. However, Verbinski is already locked into directing the animated movie Rango (which is due to feature Johnny Depp voicing the title character), which wouldn’t allow him to spend an extended time outside the US.
The Bioshock film will take place in the underwater city of Rapture, where a pilot crash-lands near a secret entrance and becomes involved in a power struggle, although with its emphasis on ideas about utopia, it would seem to give Fresnadillo a lot to sink his teeth into.