In 2008, Gore Verbinski ("The Lone Ranger") was hired by Universal Pictures to direct a live-action film based on the popular BioShock video game series. The screenplay was written by Penny Dreadful creator John Logan ("Skyfall"). Verbinski's wanted to make the film R-rated and with a budget of $200 million. That's an unheard of budget for an R-rated film, and Universal voiced their concern over it when a year later Zack Snyder's Watchmen, which was another R-rated film, struggled at the box office. When Universal requested Gore slash the budget to $80 million he decide to pass as the film's director and only stayed on as a producer. Juan Carlos Fresnadillo ("28 Weeks Later") was then hired to direct, but in 2010 BioShock creator Ken Levine stepped in and pulled the plug for good. Levine didn't think Juan Carlos Fresnadillo was a good match for BioShock.

Conceptual illustrator("Thor") worked on the project, designing various sets. Check out his designs below of the power station set, which include key sequences withand