Rockstar Games reportedly turned down an offer to launch a Grand Theft Auto movie starring Eminem, a new podcast claims.
Game industry veteran Kirk Ewing, a friend of the Rockstar founds Sam and Dan Houser, says that a Hollywood agent came to him with the deal. The brothers were offered $5 million for rights to a movie starring Eminem and would be directed by Tony Scott (Top Gun).
Sam Houser reportedly told the agent that they were “not interested,” Kirk said to the BBC podcast Bugzy Malone’s Grandest Game.
Kirk says that the Housers had been talking about a movie for GTA around the time that GTA 3 soared in popularity.
GTA 3 released back in 2001 on PlayStation 2 and was considered the framework for the remainder of the series.
In 2001 as well, Eminem was also seeing success after his record-breaking Marshall Mathers LP. He had also just wrapped up shooting on his starring role in 8 Mile, which was a semi-biographical film that took inspiration from his life and early years in rap.
The Houser’s rejection of the film was, as far as Kirk is aware, the last time the brothers discussed GTA being adapted into a film.
“They realized that the media franchise that they had was bigger than any movie that was going on at the time,” Kirk said.
GTA was declared the most profitable entertainment product of all time back in 2018, beating movies like Avatar, which broke major records.
Rockstar Games confirmed that GTA 6 was in development and it looks like it could release in 2024 or 2025.
GTA 6 was in the headlines earlier this year following leaked footage in September. However, Rockstar has reiterated that the leaks would not affect the development timeline.
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Zainah Yousef
Zainah Yousef is the author of The Fallen Age Saga and specializes in gaming, social media advice, and reviews. She's been writing all her life and she probably won't stop anytime soon.
