Guillermo Del Toro Confirms Disastrous Calls To Adapt Bestselling Video Game Franchise

Published Oct 1, 2026, 11:23 AM EDT

Jeff Dodge (he/him), a published author and graduate of Western Washington University, has been a TV news editor for many years and has had the chance to interview multiple reality show stars, including Randy Jackson, Nick Cannon, Heidi Klum, Mel B and John Cena. Fun Fact: he’s been to every single Idol Live! Tour.

Guillermo del Toro revealed a shocking story about his attempt at adapting a popular video game franchise for the big screen.

Over the years, the acclaimed filmmaker has directed such films as Blade II, Hellboy, Pan's Labyrinth, The Shape of Water, Pinocchio and, most recently, Frankenstein, which won three Oscars earlier this year and six additional nominations, including Best Picture. Del Toro has also worked on TV shows like Trollhunters: Tales of Arcadia and Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities.

Credit: mpi099/MediaPunch/INSTARimages

But he's never developed a video game adaptation before. When asked whether he would ever want to pursue such an endeavor, del Toro told IGN that he actually tried to do that at one point. He was involved in a "very contentious call about a couple of games," most notably the first-person shooter game BioShock.

Unfortunately, it did not go well, to the point where del Toro described it as being "one of the most disastrous calls I've ever had." As a result, he has no desire now to direct or produce a video game adaptation.

He added that the dynamics of video games and movies are very different. They share certain elements from a cinematic standpoint, like the way the camera moves, but "the storytelling is very different because you're not solving puzzles" and "not assembling" in the storyline of a film.

“You know, I tried. We had a very contentious call about a couple of games. I find that the dynamics of a video game are very different than a movie. They may be cinematically similar in terms of the camera moving and this and that, but the storytelling is very different because you're not solving puzzles. You're not assembling. So adapting it, BioShock, we had a couple of calls. They are probably one of the most disastrous calls I've ever had. So no, f*** no.”

Launched in 2007, BioShock centers on Jack, who survives a plane crash and explores an underwater city that's deteriorating. When he tries to leave, he faces off against several enemies, including business tycoon Andrew Ryan.

Video game publisher 2K followed that up with two additional games, BioShock 2 and BioShock Infinite. This franchise has earned universal praise and sold tens of millions of copies over the past 19 years.

2K is currently developing BioShock 4, but there have been reports that executives are not satisfied with the direction it's going in, and various changes have been made as a result.

There have been attempts for many years to bring BioShock to life as a movie, going back to 2008. At one point, filmmaker Gore Verbinski was attached to direct with Universal, and now del Toro has revealed he was almost involved with an adaptation, but it went nowhere after that contentious phone call.

Netflix is currently working on a BioShock film, with Frances Lawrence as director, Justin Rhodes as screenwriter and Roy Lee as producer. The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping has been taking up all of Lawrence's time in recent years, but presumably, the filmmaker will turn his attention to BioShock after that film is released in November.

Video game adaptations have become really popular in recent years, with movies like The Super Mario Bros. Movie, A Minecraft Movie and Sonic the Hedgehog, and the TV shows The Last of Us and Fallout. While this trend will certainly continue, Guillermo del Toro has made it clear he won't be involved with any of them.

Guillermo del Toro