While gamers eagerly await the next title in the franchise, details have emerged about a scrapped Grand Theft Auto movie with Eminem. First created by David Jones and Mike Dailly, the video game franchise puts players in a variety of open-world environments and let them engage in a wide array of activities, namely criminal ones including stealing vehicles, participating in heists, and often making one's way up the ladder of a criminal organization. Starting as a top-down arcade-style game before transitioning to the third-person action format of today, the Grand Theft Auto franchise is hailed as both one of the most innovative and controversial in the gaming sphere, having shipped an astounding 385 million units, making it the fifth-best-selling game franchise of all-time.
In the latest episode of the BBC podcast Eminem set to star and Top Gun's Tony Scott set to direct, only for them to turn them down for an interesting reason. See what Ewing shared below:
Because of the relationship that I had with Rockstar and I had with Sam, I actually tracked them down to a hotel room one night, where I knew he was going to be staying, and we stayed up late and talked about the possibility of making a film. This was just after [Grand Theft Auto] III, and I think at that point, it was still in Sam’s mind that it might be something that he wanted to do. I taking a call at about 4 a.m. from a producer in Los Angeles with an offer to make a film, and he said, “Kirk, we’ve got Eminem to star, and Tony Scott to film, $5 million on the nose, are you interested?” I phoned up Sam, and I said, “Listen to this, they want Eminem in the Grand Theft Auto movie, and Tony Scott to direct.” And he said, “Not interested.” At that point, they withdrew from any conversation about making a film when they realized that the media franchise they had, what they had, was bigger than any movie that was going on at the time.
Why A GTA Movie Starring Eminem Never Happened
Given the increasing success of the franchise at the time it was pitched, it's understandable Hollywood would be eager to capitalize on Grand Theft Auto's popularity to produce a film. Grand Theft Auto III, in particular, marked the first shift to a completely 3D perspective, and thus delivering a story more in line with its cinematic inspirations that could ten be translated to the screen. Looking at the timeline of when said title was released, it seems likely that the Grand Theft Auto movie was pitched to Ho and Rockstar around 2002 given Eminem had only just broken out into acting that year with 8 Mile, his semi-autobiographical drama for which he scored rave reviews for his performance.
This wasn't the only time a Grand Theft Auto-based movie became the subject of disinterest from Rockstar and the creatives behind the franchise, with the publisher infamously suing the BBC for trademark infringement with their docudrama The Gamechangers, starring Daniel Radcliffe as Sam Ho and exploring the creation of the game franchise. Despite their better efforts, no conclusion was revealed about the lawsuit, with the film going on to premiere on the cable network in late 2015. Between their feeling the game franchise had room to grow, and their frustrations over the Radcliffe-led film, it's understandable that no Grand Theft Auto movie, or talks thereof, have surfaced in the years since.
Why Now Is A Good Time For A GTA Movie
Despite their reservations about the matter, many believe that now is the perfect time for a Grand Theft Auto movie to come to fruition. Grand Theft Auto V raised the bar on both the scope and scale of the action franchise, reminding many of Michael Mann's Heat, and with the success of recent Sonic the Hedgehog, Mortal Kombat and Werewolves Within, putting the property in the right hands could not only prove profitable for Rockstar, but also help keep the brand fresh while the leaked Grand Theft Auto VI continues its development. However, even if one doesn't materialize, fans of the Grand Theft Auto franchise can take comfort knowing it's in the hands of creatives who care about retaining its creative drive moving forward, regardless of medium.
Source: Bugzy Malone's Grandest Game
