I can't imagine better news for fans of Bioshock than this story on Variety:

"28 Weeks Later" helmer Juan Carlos Fresnadillo is in talks to direct "Bioshock," the Universal Pictures adaptation of the Take-Two Interactive videogame.

Previously Pirates of the Caribbean director Gore Verbinski intended to direct the adaptation of the videogame himself, but after budget concerns and scheduling issues, that wasn't going to happen. Which turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

Once it was clear Verbinski wouldn't direct, he and the studio sparked to Fresnadillo, whose deal is contingent upon the thumbs-up from Take-Two, which maintains director approval. Fresnadillo's producing partner, Enrique Lopez Lavigne, is in talks to become a producer.

Hey, Take Two, rent Intacto if you have any doubts about Fresnadillo. He's practically a poster boy for the new wave of Spanish directors showing Hollywood how it's done.

By the way, if I may engage in a bit of videogame fanboi nerdery, this part of the Variety story is wrong:

"Bioshock" takes place in the underwater city of Rapture, where a pilot crash-lands near a secret entrance and becomes involved in a power struggle.

I don't think you can call it a crash-landing when the plane has broken into multiple pieces of burning wreckage strewn around the ocean. That's a straight-up crash, minus the landing bit. But more importantly, the protagonist was most certainly not the pilot. I think I shall go make an angry blog post about that. Oh, wait, I just did!

(Thanks, Mr. Litel!)