Pirates of the Caribbean director Gore Verbinski has been signed up to direct and produce.

Bioshock screenshot

Universal has signed a deal to turn the multi-million selling BioShock video game franchise into a major motion picture, reports Variety.

Pirates of the Caribbean director Gore Verbinski has been signed on to direct and will also produce, with Aviator scribe John Logan said to be in talks to write the screenplay.

"I think the whole utopia-gone-wrong story that's cleverly unveiled to players is just brimming with cinematic potential," said Verbinski. "Of all the games I've played, this is one that I felt has a really strong narrative."

Take-Two is receiving a multi-million dollar advance for the movie, which is believed to be the biggest video game-to-movie deal since Universal and Fox singed on to the now abandoned Halo movie. Take-Two executive chairman Strauss Zelnick has called the deal "state of the art" and has been structured in a way that ensures the project won't end up like Halo.

"The reason I structured it the way I did is to make sure it gets made," he explained.

There's currently no word on a release date, although Verbinski plans to start pre-production once Logan's script is finished and approved by the parties involved.