OK, there's good news. And there's bad news. Then there's better news. The good news is that no matter what, Gore Verbinski's next movie will take place at sea. The bad news is, it won't be with Johnny Depp in Pirates of the Caribbean 4. While some folks weren't exactly happy with the last film (many finding it far too convoluted), Pirates 4 was meant to be a fresh story -- a paring down of the elements to tell something brand new. And frankly, I was really excited about it. The idea was simple: a buddy adventure film. Take two lovable characters that hate one another and put them in a boat, forcing them to work together. One of these guys was going to be Captain Jack Sparrow. The other? Barbossa. Oh hell yes. I was on board the minute I heard that.

Sadly, odds are we won't see that film. Not yet approved by the studios, the film was in development as Verbinski was also developing another project. Without Verinski and the green light this might get put on hold indefinitely, if not shelved completely. What could Verbinski possibly want to leave Pirates for? BioShock. That's the better news.

Verbinski's BioShock is something I've had my eye on since he first announced his intention to make it. BioShock is a megahit video game with a brilliant premise, incredible mood and atmosphere, and deep, dark, mature themes. Rooted very heavily in science fiction and inspired by the works of Ayn Rand and George Orwell, BioShock is set in an alternate history Earth in which a rich industrialist commissions the building of an underwater city built upon Randian ideals and a truly laissez-faire state, free from the political culture of the time. Scientists flock to the very free-form, intellectual paradise and technological advancements abound.

But something goes terribly wrong, and by the time our hero arrives in this underwater city (known as Rapture) most everyone is dead save a few holdouts, some little girls known as Little Sisters and monstrous genetically-altered mutants in awesome-looking diving suits known as Big Daddys. The story is multi-layered, rich, and occasionally heartbreaking. Steeped in '30s and '40s era technology and culture, every shot of this game is drenched in mood. And in anyone else's hands I would be terrified. I would worry that they didn't get it. That it would be a bloody, sad shadow of the video game it was based on.

But it's in the hands of Gore Verbinski, the guy who made the scariest movie of the last ten years (The Ring) and helmed this generation's Raiders of the Lost Ark (Pirates of the Caribbean). Two films everyone said wouldn't work that instead became huge hits and instant classics? Yeah -- I trust this guy to make the very first incredible video game adaptation. If he was gonna dump a Pirates movie for anything, I sure am glad it's this. Color me seven different kinds of excited.

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