There's no better duo than Guillermo del Toro and a movie filled with unimaginable horrors. The Oscar-winning director is the mastermind behind acclaimed projects like Pan's Labyrinth, Pacific Rim, The Shape of Water, and Frankenstein. But as if taking over Hollywood wasn't enough, he has also dipped his toes into the ever-changing waters of the video game world.
Guillermo del Toro appeared as an NPC in Hideo Kojima's Death Stranding. The two visionary creatives also co-directed the absolutely terrifying P.T. demo, which was meant to tie into a full-length Silent Hill game starring Norman Reedus, although the project was eventually axed. Moreover, Guillermo del Toro was set to collaborate with THQ on the release of a survival horror game titled inSANE, which was ultimately canceled.
Unfortunately, del Toro's list of unreleased video game projects doesn't end there, as the director revealed he wanted to make a BioShock movie adaptation, but the project never materialized.
Guillermo del Toro wanted to direct a BioShock movie, but some "disastrous" phone calls killed the project
Back in 2008, one year after the original BioShock video game was released, rumors emerged claiming that Guillermo del Toro would helm an adaptation of the acclaimed first-person shooter title. Nearly two decades later, the director has confirmed that this was indeed the case. Speaking with IGN, del Toro revealed that he was once in talks to direct a BioShock movie, but some disastrous phone calls prevented this dream project from happening:
Guillermo Del Toro reveals what happened to his BioShock movie and the challenge with adapting video games pic.twitter.com/lH6KgBG2a4
— IGN (@IGN) September 30, 2026
While Guillermo del Toro didn't reveal why the calls went sideways, it wouldn't be far-fetched to assume that it was due to creative differences. After all, he called BioShock the "most immersive" video game he's ever played in an episode of the Happy Sad Confused podcast, so he likely had a very specific approach in mind for a possible adaptation, but it wasn't well received. Maybe if he had asked 2K, "Would you kindly let me make the movie?" things would've turned out very differently.
Unfortunately, not only did Guillermo del Toro miss out on the opportunity of directing a BioShock adaptation, but he also revealed that he wouldn't make any video game movie moving forward:
"No. F*** no! 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. You have to be able to give the illusion of an infinite sandbox, and you lead audiences to the right or to the left through their own 'decisions,' but you have to corner them. So, it's a very different thing."
This is a shame, because Guillermo del Toro is an avid gamer who understands the mechanics and intricacies of both video games and movies. That would make him the ideal candidate to adapt any franchise for the big screen, especially since he has a special talent for making the worlds of his films feel alive. This ability would certainly come in handy when bringing a video game to the big screen.
While Guillermo del Toro won't be directing a BioShock movie anytime soon, he has two upcoming projects under his belt: a violent thriller called Fury set to star Oscar Isaac, along with a stop-motion adaptation of the novel The Buried Giant. On the other hand, director Francis Lawrence will be the one to helm the live-action BioShock movie, which will be released by 2K in collaboration with Netflix.
The BioShock movie has no release date in sight, with producer Roy Lee revealing that "script work" is being done right now while Francis Lawrence concludes his job on The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping. That means BioShock is unlikely to hit theaters before 2028.
On the video game front, things don't look any more promising. 2K confirmed back in 2019 that a fourth installment in the saga is in the works, but no major updates have been released since. Hopefully, it won't be long before we get updates on these two BioShock projects, although it hurts a little to think what could've been had Guillermo del Toro been given the chance to work on the franchise.
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