BioShock film still swimming as director says script is nearly ready
Francis Lawrence has not given up on Rapture. The director says the team behind Netflix's BioShock film is still writing the script, is "pretty close" to finishing it, and he is feeling good about where it stands.
"I would love to make it. I've been dying to make it," Lawrence said, in comments reported by GameSpot. He added: "I'm feeling really good about it."
The film is an adaptation of BioShock, the video game released in 2007. The original game is a first-person story set in Rapture, a failed underwater city built as a haven for scientists and artists. It has since grown into a series known for its art-deco ruins and moral choices.
Netflix announced in 2022 that it had taken on the project. In August 2022, the streamer tapped Lawrence, the director of The Hunger Games franchise films, to direct, with Michael Green attached to adapt the script.
The latest update came during press for The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping. Lawrence discussed BioShock in an exclusive interview with GamesRadar, published on 8 October 2026. That Hunger Games prequel tells the story of Haymitch Abernathy's games and is scheduled for release in theatres on 20 November 2026.
Work on the current draft is credited to Green alongside Justin Rhodes. No filming date has been announced. Producer Roy Lee has said he thinks Lawrence could begin work on BioShock in 2027.
The road has been long. Delays were caused by the Hollywood strikes and by Lawrence's commitments to The Hunger Games. In 2025, the story was reworked for a smaller budget. Lee, who gave a previous status update at Comic-Con in July 2024, said a change of leadership at Netflix had scaled the film back to a more "personal" project.
For fans waiting since the 2022 announcement, this means the film is still in the script stage. No cast. No shoot. Just a director who says he still wants to make it.
