The Grand Theft Auto movie that almost was

With the release of "Grand Theft Auto IV" coming up -- and, let's be honest, my wanting to start this blog off with a bang -- I thought it was worth letting readers know about a major story in the intersection of Hollywood and videogames, arguably the biggest ever, that almost happened last spring.

For years, everyone in Hollywood has wanted to get their hands on "Grand Theft Auto." Big name producers and senior execs at major studios all did their best to convince Rockstar to give up the film rights to their franchise. But the brothers Houser were reluctant, and who can blame them? "Grand Theft Auto" is a huge cash cow and has a bigger profile in the young male demo than most TV shows and movies. And God knows there have been a lot of awful videogame-based movies that hurt the property more than they helped. So, even amongst those able to navigate the Rockstar bureaucracy and talk to the right people, the answer was always "no."

But last year, something changed. By the spring, a deal was virtually in place with one of the six major studios to start developing a "Grand Theft Auto" movie. Eminem was quite possibly going to star.

I can't be sure of the reasons why Rockstar was finally open to a movie deal, though I suspect it had to do with the new management at parent company Take 2. This was soon after the board was ousted following a financial scandal. The new (and current) chairman, Strauss Zelnick, has significant ties to the traditional media industry given his previous posts as CEO of BMG music and president of 20th Century Fox.

How close was this deal to happening? Reporters at Variety (and, I have since learned, other publications) were preparing their stories based on conversations with the studio in question. Internally at Take 2, people were talking about it as a done deal. Then at the last minute, it all fell apart. I'm told Take 2 couldn't finalize terms with the studio, though I'm not sure if it was a purely financial issue or if, in the end, the publisher got cold feet about giving away rights to its baby.

Who knows if Rockstar will ever be willing to make a movie deal again. But for those who think that in principle the publisher would never be interested, last year's events prove them wrong. Perhaps one day it'll happen. Maybe even before the "Halo" film.

Update (2/4/08, 4:25 PM): Someone from Rockstar pinged me with this statement, attributed to VP/co-founder Dan Houser, that they have been giving to other journalists who apparently called to ask about the above story. It doesn't really contract my post since, as I said, no deal was ever in place. But I certainly stand behind my reporting that it came awful close.

Rockstar was not involved in this project in any shape or form nor is it something that we're currently interested in.  There was no GTA movie in the works as far as Rockstar is concerned. Some movie producers were trying to put something together to entice us to make a movie, as studios and production teams frequently have done in the past. This proposal was no more interesting than the numerous others we receive. We never entertained proceeding with the project.

Comments

[jet spyke]

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[jet spyke]

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[wow gold]

Personally, I would think they had problems with rights because a GTA movie already exists!

[Dave]

A GTA movie will work whenever the franchise dies, which is not in the foreseeable future. But, when GTA loses video game series loses steam, a movie based on one of the classic entries in conjunction with the announcement a new game is in the works could re-energize the property. Like, a live action transformers movie would not have worked in the 80's but because of the success of the new movie, TV producers could re-launch a successful transformers series today. Deep in the future, that would work for GTA.

[actionman]

The only way that a GTA movie would work is if Jerry Bruckheimer produced it and Michael Bay (or Tony Scott) directed it. That's it. End of discussion.

[Henki]

I'm a huge fan of the GTA series, and I believe that even IF the movie was done, it would only harm the franchise - almost no matter how good the movie itself would be. I know Rockstar, and they're no sell-outs. They truly believe in what they are doing, and they have more brains and depth in their company than many others.

Games that have become movies has never, as long as I can remember, done the game franchise any good. I haven't seen the Lara Croft movie(s?), but neither have I played the games. What I do know is, many Rockstar/GTA fans would only get dissappointed in this movie, and I don't really expect Eminem to be a true GTA main character.

A movie would taint Rockstar's reputation, making them sellouts, and, probably, the movie itself would be nothing more than a cool action movie. Although the story in most GTA games is great, it would never be as good a film as the games themselves.

[BtOWN2733 (NP)]

I believe a GTA movie would ultimately be subpar and moderately successful. My guess is that Rockstar or Take2 wanted too much for the rights, ultimately, and the projected numbers just didn't work out for whichever studio was the highest bidder. On the other hand, they could just be waiting to see how the game does on its new release date, but I think it's obvious it will rival Halo 3 in unit sales (not entertainment sales).

In any regard, the movie itself could never be what the game ultimately is. Each title from the series is a generic gangster epic that is largely based on existing crime films and television shows (Goodfellas, Casino, Scarface, Heat, Carlito's Way, etc.). Unless you count Tommy (I think that was his name) from GTA III and Vice City, there isn't even a consistent lead for the franchise. However, those games are too old in the GTA series to justify a direct adaptation. On top of all this, I doubt you would be able to attached a credible director to the film due to the title's political lightning rod potential and again, generic storyline. In the end, it would most likely be some commercial or music video director, in which case you'll have some cool looking car crashes but minimum substance. Unless Jim Sheridan is available (and I think he is).

I guess by all of those factors alone, you just have a big mess when you stand back and look at it all...but isn't that what movie making is in every case? Perhaps, like Halo, it was just too much money up front.

[James]

Personally, I would think they had problems with rights because a GTA movie already exists!

http://www.play.com/DVD/DVD/4-/102948/Grand-Theft-Auto/Product.html

[Rob]

Hey Mark...I wasn't aware that a game created by Harmonix and MTV had any say what was going to happen with Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto property. Oh well, maybe I'm just out of the loop.

I'd prefer Daniel Day Lewis to be perfectly honest.

[Mark B]

"FIRZT"

PLEASE if and when this ultimately happens, PLEASE Rockband, don't let someone like Eminem play the lead unless he knocks the audition out of the park. Get an incredible actor.

How about the British guy who plays the Jimmy McNulty in The Wire?