It seems that there were plans for a movie based on Grand Theft Auto last spring. Though Rockstar claims they did not have any proceedings with this idea that a studio had, the "Variety Cut Scene" blog claims that it came so close to a deal and also possibly rapper Eminem was going to star in it.

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.

quote Rockstar

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.

StarJet via weblogs.variety.com »