According to a recent podcast, Rockstar Games turned down the opportunity to release a Grand Theft Auto movie starring Eminem.
A friend of GTA founders Sam and Dan Houser and seasoned game industry worker Kirk Ewing claims a Hollywood representative approached him with the offer.
He claims that Tony Scott, the director of Top Gun, made the brothers an offer of $5 million for the rights to a film featuring the rapper.
But according to Kirk, Sam Houser informed the agency that they were “not interested” in the BBC podcast Bugzy Malone’s Grandest Game.
When GTA 3 first became popular, the Housers were reportedly discussing a cinematic tie-in, according to Kirk, whose title State of Emergency was published by Rockstar.
The groundbreaking game, which debuted in 2001 on the Playstation 2, created the foundation for the remainder of the series and its imitators.
Eminem was at a record-breaking high in the same year because of his Marshall Mathers LP.
Additionally, he had just finished filming for his leading role in the semi-biographical movie 8 Mile, which is largely based on his early career in rap.
“Are you curious?”
Sam Houser and Kirk, according to Kirk on the podcast, sat up late talking about the prospect of filming a GTA movie at a hotel.
Sam may have thought it might be something he wanted to do at that time, according to Kirk. He claims that a LA producer called him around 4:00 and made him an offer.
Kirk remembers: “Kirk, we’ve got Eminem to feature in a Tony Scott movie that will cost $5 million on the nose, he said. Do you have an interest?
“I then called Sam and told him to pay attention. They want Tony Scott to helm the Grand Theft Auto movie and Eminem to star.
He responded, “Not interested,”
And as far as Kirk is aware, neither brother has brought up the possibility of GTA being adapted for the big screen since then.
The media franchise that they had, according to Kirk, “was bigger than any movie that was going on at the moment.”
GTA went on to become a cultural titan and was named the most successful entertainment product of all time in 2018.
That includes blockbuster films like Avatar.
The creation of GTA VI was finally acknowledged by the studio last year, and Rockstar has predicted that players may be able to play it by 2024 or 2025.
It has stated that the September leak of the early game video won’t have an impact on the game’s long-term goals.
Newsbeat’s request for a response from Rockstar and its parent firm Take-Two Interactive has gone unanswered.
A-list celebrities have lined up to join the large voice cast of GTA3’s successors, even though the world has never seen a Grand Theft Auto movie.
In various episodes of the series, actors Ray Liotta and Samuel L. Jackson as well as comedians Ricky Gervais and Frankie Boyle all made cameo appearances.
Additionally, Eminem made an appearance on the game’s acclaimed soundtrack as a featured performer on a Dr. Dre song created for a GTA Online expansion pack.
The UK rapper and GTA enthusiast’s album, Bugzy Malone’s Grandest Game, traces the development and controversy of the popular open-world franchise.
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