Indicative of how popular the open-world action-adventure video game “Grand Theft Auto” has become among gamers worldwide, a movie is to be made not about the video game itself but on how developer Rockstar Games managed to pass through the legal wringer to make the video game what it is today.
“Grand Theft Auto” has become one of the most popular, if not the most popular, video game franchise ever to hit the gaming consoles, both the current generation and the next generation ones.
Reports have it that “Harry Potter” actor Daniel Radcliffe is currently in negotiations to take the lead role in “Grand Theft Auto” the movie which shall be premised on the legal fight between the creator of the popular video game and a Miami lawyer, notes The Economic Times.
Protagonist and antagonist
The 25-year-old Radcliff is being eyed to play the role of Sam Houser, the British co-founder and president of Rockstar Games, the game development company, that conceptualized the “Grand Theft Auto” series as well as other games including “Max Payne” and “Red Dead.”
Attorney Jack Thompson is the activist lawyer based in Miami who have been lobbying hard to ban the video game for the use of excessive violence in its gameplay. BBC Films, the production company that will be making the movie, has yet to have a cast member to play the role of Attorney Thompson.
Over the past 10 years, Sam Houser and Rockstar Games have been under repeated attacks from activist lawyer Atty. Thompson.
Houser is credited for popularizing the “Grand Theft Auto” video game series into one of global gaming community’s biggest franchises. He is also regarded as the culprit behind the heightened violence quotient on the video game, making it not suitable to play for young children.
Director Owen Harris, who helmed the episodes of “Misfits” and “Black Mirror,” will be taking over the directorial chores of the movie, whose filming will begin reportedly on April 20.
Surging popularity
The “Grand Theft Auto” video game series has continuously surge in terms of popularity and the franchise is now on its fifth installment with the “Grand Theft Auto V,” which was released on the next gen gaming consoles – the Xbox One and the PlayStation 4 – in November of last year.
But what gamers found more exciting on the franchise is its multiplayer online version called “Grand Theft Auto Online,” where players from different locations around the world can work together and collaborate to pull off successful capers in the game.
Rockstar Games also dropped the long-awaited online heist on the multiplayer version of the game and it has been getting favorable reviews and praises from satisfied gamers although they have waited nearly 17 months before it finally arrived on their gaming consoles. The online heist will be coming to the PC on April 14 based on Rockstar Games’ timetable.