Francis Lawrence believes that ‘BioShock’ can end the video game movie curse. Films based on video games have often struggled to satisfy fans but the director is convinced that the nature of the ‘BioShock’ series will be a hit with cinemagoers.
Francis told Collider: “First of all, I think it’s one of the best games ever created. It’s also, I think, one of the most visually unique games ever created. “The other thing, and one of the things that always appeals to me, is it is very thematic. There’s real ideas and philosophies underneath the game property, and it’s really, really thought out.
“A lot of games may have a great world of some kind, or they may have a great lead character, or they may tee you up for great set-pieces, but they don’t really have the ideas, they don’t have the kind of weight and the gravitas that ‘BioShock’ does.” The ‘Hunger Games’ director revealed that he is a big fan of the range of genres that are covered in the games.
Francis, 51, said: “Plus, one of the things that I love, love, love is that sort of strange mashup of genre, the idea that you have what feels like a period piece, mixed with body horror, mixed with sci-fi. It’s one of those great mashups, and I think it can be really unique and really beautiful and really entertaining.”
The director is making the movie for Netflix and confirmed that he has been given creative freedom by the streaming giant. He said: “There’s always discussions about rating and tone. I don’t want to get into it too much now because it’s pretty early on in the process, but I certainly have not felt stifled in any way, or sent in any directions with Netflix.”
