Back in 2008, the world learned about a BioShock film adaptation, with Pirates of the Caribbean director Gore Verbinski at the helm. Now, some 5+ years later, we thought all hope for a cinematic romp through Rapture had been lost… but apparently: Not so.

BioShock film concept art

Ken Levine, bossman at BioShock developer Irrational Games claimed last year that he had “killed the project” after failing to reach a compromise on how the film would come together.

He tells the story that director Verbinski’s vision was a “hard R film” – filled with “a lot of blood”. After the release of Watchmen, which didn’t do so well at the box office, the studio got cold feet and pulled BioShock‘s $200 million budget.

Verbinski, of course, couldn’t achieve what he wanted on the new, cut down $80 million budget, and left the project. New director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo stepped up to bat, but Levine says the new team lacked chemistry.

They said if you want to kill it, kill it. And I killed it.

Now though, it seems things may have changed.

BioShock film concept art

Today on Twitter, a fan asked outright: “Has all hope for the Bioshock movie been abandoned?”

Levine’s response:

Not at all.

Earlier this year, we were treated to a sneaky peek of concept art that had been prepared by Jim Martin for the upcoming film. Of course, we don’t know quite how serious Levine is about this project – and we certainly don’t know if this artwork will be used. For now, at least, it sure is pretty to look at.