Just a couple of weeks after Gore Verbinski formally turned down the opportunity to direct Pirates of the Caribbean 4 in order to focus on the video game adaptation Bioshock, the project has reportedly hit a major snag. Universal halted pre-production on Bioshock last week and let some staff go because they feared that the budget was rapidly spiraling out of control. The projected cost of the film had risen to approximately $160 million, which was enough to cause Universal to get cold feet.

Verbinski says that Universal asked them to look for a new shooting location outside of the U.S. where they can take advantage of tax credits (possibly London), and this is currently being re-evaluated. Although gamers are no doubt having flashbacks to the Halo movie debacle, which resulted in the project falling apart after Universal and Fox backed out, the producers of Bioshock insist that this is just a minor setback and they remain committed to making the movie. Clearly studios are being a lot more cautious with their money as of late, which is probably a good thing. The question is, does Bioshock have enough mainstream appeal to warrant a blockbuster budget?