Gamertell

By now, we’ve all heard the news that Pirates of the Caribbean director Gore Verbinski will direct the big-screen adaptation of thoughtful underwater shooter Bioshock. We’ve already extolled the virtues of the game and it’s filmic possibilities elsewhere, so right now, let’s focus on the man himself. Is Verbinski up to the challenge of making one of the most fully realized game worlds (and cleverest narratives) come to life? Or are we destined for yet another lame game movie night? We check out the director’s earlier film work, his statements on the adaptation, and his gamer cred to make a long-term prognosis.

The pedigree:
Verbinski has a fairly decent history with “genre” flicks. He directed the hilarious 1998 kiddie film Mousehunt, the excellent, ultra spooky, The Ring in 2002, the quirky, decent The Weather Man in 2005, and helmed all three Pirate movies. Though the third trip to the Caribbean was a bloated mess, that’s a pretty promising list, showing that Mr. Verbinski can handle serious scares, water-bound adventure, and comedy. Comedy probably won’t come in too handy, but two out of three isn’t bad.

On Bioshock:
From an interview with Ben Fritz in Variety’s Cut Scene blog (what a great name), he really seems to “get” what made the game so special. From the interview:

“Of all the games out there, I think “Bioshock” is the one that’s the most engaging. I think the whole utopia-gone-wrong story that’s cleverly unveiled to players is brimming with cinematic potential.”

His thoughts on actual production seem quite apt as well:

“We’ll cleverly use matte paintings and all the technology we have to achieve a great deal of scale without actually building everything. It’s a much more intimate story than “Pirates.” Although it’s an adventure, it’s a dramatic adventure. I see it more along the lines of “Blade Runner.”

Finally, the gamer cred:
From everything we can gleam, it sounds as if Gore’s a gamer. He has an appreciation of the title at hand and a grip on the intricacies of adaptation. Plus, he knows Ken Levine (2k Boston/Australia’s Bioshock head honcho), and reportedly was chatting about gaming when the idea for the project came up. Finally, he’s a big fan of Portal.

The prognosis:
If anyone can do justice to the project, it’s Verbinski. While we’re still skeptical after the mess that was Pirates of the Caribbean 3 (seriously – watch it again if you don’t believe us), the man has a solid history, seems to totally understand what made rapture so enticing, and he’s a gamer himself. We’re optimistic.

Read [Cut Scene blog]