BioShock Movie Is Still in Development, Director Says

Netflix's BioShock movie is still in development, and its director says he is "definitely active" on it. Francis Lawrence made the comments to The Direct on 26 October 2026.

The film has been a long time coming. Universal Pictures acquired the rights to a BioShock movie in May 2008, but no adaptation was made. In 2022, Netflix announced a partnership with 2K and Take-Two Interactive, the publisher behind the game, to produce a live-action version. Michael Green, who wrote the film Logan, was brought on alongside Lawrence.

Lawrence told The Direct that work is "getting close." He would not say the film would be his next project after The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping, which opens in November. "You never know," he said. Producer Roy Lee said the BioShock film has been "just waiting for [Lawrence] whenever Hunger Games is completed."

Speaking to GameSpot on 27 October 2026, Lawrence called the project "a tough nut to crack" and said it is "tricky on a couple fronts." The first problem is the main character. In the game, the player is the character, so the film has to build a lead from scratch.

The project has also changed shape. According to GameSpot, the movie was first planned as a large-scale production. It was scaled back after Dan Lin became head of Netflix's film division. Lin has since left the company, along with longtime chief content officer Bela Bajaria, in a leadership shake-up. Peter Rice, a former executive at Disney and Fox, is now Netflix's chief content officer.

Lee has said the film is planned to come out alongside a new BioShock game. Neither the film nor the game has a release date. The film is based on the first BioShock game, which was released in 2007.

For fans waiting on the film, the update is simple. The project is moving, the director is involved, and nothing has been dated yet.