"28 Weeks Later" director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo may helm "Bioshock," the Universal Pictures adaptation of the Take-Two Interactive Software video game.

Fresnadillo would replace Gore Verbinski, who stepped out of the directing slot, but remains the film's producer. John Logan ("Gladiator," "The Last Samurai") is scripting.

Fresnadillo directed the 2001 Spanish thriller "Intacto," and made his Hollywood breakthrough with the horror film "28 Weeks Later."

Verbinski declined directing duties after the studio's revised budget called for it to lens abroad in order to secure tax credits and favorable exchange rates.

With Verbinski locked into directing the Paramount animated film "Rango," he couldn't commit to an overseas shoot. Originally, he stepped away from directing his fourth "Pirates of the Caribbean" film to launch production on "Bioshock" last spring.



With "Bioshock," Fresnadillo is stepping into one of the highest-profile projects on the Universal slate.



According to Variety, Universal put the brakes on "Bioshock" during the pre-production phase because the budget rose to $160 million. The studio wanted costs slashed.

At the time, Universal sources vowed to avoid another "Halo" meltdown, which caused them and partner Fox to drop out of that video game adaptation. But the negotiations with Fresnadillo indicate the studio is determined to make "Bioshock" offshore.



Once it was clear Verbinski wouldn't direct, he and the studio spoke to Fresnadillo, whose deal is contingent upon director approval from Take-Two.



"Bioshock" takes place in the secret underwater city of Rapture, where a pilot crash-lands near a secret entrance and faces attacks by the mutated beings and mechanical drones that reside there. Rapture was founded in 1946 as a solution to the increasingly oppressive political and religious authority in the world.