Tuesday, August 25

• Bioshock Will Get New Director, Probably Juan Carlos Fresnadillo

  Gore Verbinski had previously warned he might leave the big-screen adaptation of video game Bioshock should the production shoot overseas. And given that Universal Pictures was considering that option to take advantage of tax credits and exchange rates, the news that Verbinski "has stepped out of the director's slot" doesn't come as a huge shock.

  With Verbinski out, that leaves the director's chair open for Juan Carlos Fresnadillo. He impressed Universal with his English-language debut, 28 Weeks Later, plus — huge bonus — Fresnadillo's from Spain and has no problem working in Europe. Fresnadillo is awaiting approval from Take Two Interactive, the studio responsible for the Bioshock video game. Verbinski will stay on as producer.

  The directing change could be good news for Pirates of the Caribbean fans, if it creates room for Verbinski to return for Pirates 4 — a project he'd left to concentrate on Bioshock.

  
  

  Posted 08/25/2009 by Ryan

  Related: Gore Verbinski | Juan Carlos Fresnadillo | Bioshock

Friday, July 24

• Pirates of the Caribbean 4 Starts Shooting in April 2010

  

  Last week, Jerry Bruckheimer made an appearance on The CBS Early Show and announced a fourth Pirates of the Caribbean movie, with Johnny Depp once again starring as Captain Jack Sparrow.

  Now, Comingsoon.net is reporting that the movie will begin production next spring. The online publication interviewed Oren Aviv, Disney's Head of Production, at Comic-Con yesterday, and Aviv broke the news.

  We're going to shoot Pirates 4 in April or May of next year. We are going to release it hopefully in 2011 is the plan.

  Aviv added that they will be shooting only one movie this time, in contrast to the previous two movies, which were shot together. The aim is for another trilogy that may take things in a new direction.

  It's important to get the story right and it's important to me to scale it down, because we can't get bigger. The movies have subsequently gotten bigger and bigger and very complicated and they were satisfying on so many levels obviously, but I want to kind of reboot the whole thing and bring it down to its core, its essence, just characters.

  One thing on everyone's mind is whether Gore Verbinski will return as director. No official word on that yet.

  
  

  Posted 07/24/2009 by Rich Z

  Related: Gore Verbinski | Jerry Bruckheimer | Johnny Depp | Oren Aviv

Wednesday, June 10

• James Cameron Joins Heavy Metal Sequel

  Last time we heard about the upcoming Heavy Metal sequel, directors Zack Snyder, Gore Verbinski, and David Fincher were added to the list of directors collaborating on the animated anthology, and now it looks like James Cameron will also direct a segment as well.

  FilmSchoolRejects spoke with Kevin Eastman, co-creator of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and editor-in-chief and owner of Heavy Metal Magazine, who offered this update:

  I've got breaking news that Fincher and James Cameron are going to be Co-Executive Producers on [Heavy Metal]. Fincher will direct one. Cameron will direct one. Zack Snyder is going to direct one and Gore Verbinski is going to. Mark Osborne and Jack Black from Tenacious D are going to do a comedy segment for the film. Three other directors have agreed but we haven't signed them, but they're equally as jaw-dropping. So we're on cloud nine to be working with such an amazing amount of talent.

  It is a pretty impressive list. And while "Co-Executive Producer" is not the most involved of movie jobs, Cameron and Fincher are clearly giving Heavy Metal all the support they can.

  
  

  Posted 06/10/2009 by Ryan

  Related: David Fincher | Gore Verbinski | Jack Black | James Cameron | Kevin Eastman | Mark Osborne | Zack Snyder | Heavy Metal | Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Tuesday, June 2

• Gore Verbinski May Leave Bioshock

  The LA Times reports that director Gore Verbinski (Pirates of the Caribbean) may abandon the big-screen adaptation of the 2007 hit computer game Bioshock, which he signed up to direct more than a year ago.

  The bottom line is it has to shoot out of the States for budget reasons and my schedule may be prohibitive.

  Verbinski also talked about both his desire to produce video games himself and his philosophy regarding cinematic adaptations of video games:

  It's a mistake for Hollywood to impose themselves on the gaming space. Not only is it arrogant, but it hasn't really worked. The presumption that we have a better understanding of narrative that we can bring to gaming is flawed at its core because interactive entertainment is a completely different way to navigate and explore what compels you in that world.

  As a filmmaker, I'm absolutely fascinated with the idea that the protagonist is the audience. That mandates a new form of narrative at its core. So you can't really take the skill sets we have for making movies and impose them upon games. Hollywood has made a mistake to think they can enter this space and somehow provide better storytelling.

  No official word has been given regarding Verbinski's decision.

  
  

  Posted 06/02/2009 by Rich Z

  Related: Gore Verbinski | Bioshock

Sunday, April 26

• Bioshock Budget Woes Halt Horror

  Universal Pictures halted Gore Verbinski's live-action adaptation of horror videogame Bioshock due to budget concerns. For non-gamers, the storyline takes place in the underwater city Rapture, where a pilot crash-lands near a secret entrance and becomes involved in a power struggle.

  The brakes were put on during pre-production, and the studio has let some production staff go while they try and figure out a way to make the film on the cheap. Reports say that the movie was gearing up to film in LA, but that all changed when the budget rose to $160 million. Now the project is looking at alternatives, like shooting in England as a way to reduce costs.

  We were asked by Universal to move the film outside the U.S. to take advantage of a tax credit," Verbinski said. "We are evaluating whether this is something we want to do. In the meantime, the film is in a holding pattern.

  So far the horror movie hasn't been "killed." Variety says that the studio is determined to make the pic. In fact, Verbinski (who has also been directing the Paramount animated film Rango with Johnny Depp) bowed out of directing a fourth installment of Pirates of the Caribbean specifically so that he could produce and direct Bioshock.

  
  

  Posted 04/26/2009 by Jim

  Related: Gore Verbinski | Bioshock

Wednesday, April 22

• Another Heavy Metal in the Works

  

  The animated anthology continues! This time directors David Fincher, Gore Verbinski, and Zack Snyder will contribute to the movie. Snyder told MTV the movie was "coasting" and has his story picked out, though he wouldn't elaborate on what it will be:

  [Fincher, Verbinski and I] talked about certain segments, it’s nothing that you would know from the magazine. It's a special little one-off thing but it's pretty cool, that's all I can really say about it.

  Halloween: H2 director Rob Zombie has also been approached to direct a segment that "could fuse his story with his music."

  
  

  Posted 04/22/2009 by Ryan

  Related: David Fincher | Gore Verbinski | Rob Zombie | Zack Snyder | Heavy Metal 2000 | Heavy Metal

Friday, May 9

• Bioshock Coming to Big Screen

  Bioshock is the next in a long line of hit videogames that will be making its way to the silver screen. Gore Verbinski (the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy) has signed a deal with Universal to direct an adaptation of the story, which he describes as a "utopia-gone-wrong story."

  In Bioshock, which only came out last year, a pilot crash lands in Rapture, an underwater city in which the free-market principles of author Ayn Rand have run amok and discovers he might not actually have the free will he thought he did. A sequel to the game is expected in 2009.

  Source: Variety.

  
  

  Posted 05/09/2008 by reelz

  Related: Gore Verbinski | Bioshock