Ben-DutkaLegal issues can really stop anything in its tracks, even a potential Hollywood blockbuster.
According to VideoGamer citing an article from Deadline Hollywood , the reason we don't have a "Grand Theft Auto" film just yet is because legally, it basically can't happen. Fox apparently owns the rights to any future GTA movie because of the 1977 picture they produced with the same name; the one in which Ron Howard starred and directed.
"Yes, Fox owns the… movie. Yes, it has been one of 400 development projects for several years. But they are nowhere on the script. It has certainly not been a front-burner project."
So this means Rockstar can't make a GTA movie and on the flip side, Howard can't go and make a video game based on their film without permission. …silly, isn't it? Of course, video game movies rarely fare well; even the recently released "Prince of Persia," while certainly better than most game adaptations, didn't haul in quite as much as anticipated at the box office. Maybe that's the real reason a GTA movie has been on the back-burner all this time… Then again, of all the game franchises out there that might have a shot at being an elite film, GTA may lead the pack. It has just the right mix of action and drama to stand out, don't you think?
movies based on games usually suck. i couldnt see a gta movie comin out and being that great. the stories for these games are spread over hours and hours. to cram it into a 2 hour movie is stupid. gta is the last game i would want turned into a movie. stupid hollywood just loves to steal ideas from anywhere they can.
Good, I'm really getting tired of seeing what Hollywood does when they run out of ideas. Trying to rape the games industry, just results in the worst kind of movies.
Please, just stop. Go back to the drawing board, and sit there, until you think of 1, original thought.
I especially hate the Resident Evil movies. The first was okay, but now she has super powers and can fly? I don't even need to watch the movie, cause she will definitely overpower all the zombies.
If that happens,how will we get our laughs from great hits like Street Fighter or Mortal Kombat? Its pure gold i tell you! pure gold!!
That demo of what they want to do with the next Mortal Kombat film actually looked promising, but other than that I have to agree, the film industry is running on fumes and they need to come fresh instead of dragging other industries down with them.
@ Godsman: Mila Jovovich found a nice little niche for herself that Angelina Jolie hadn't already beaten to death. Typecast acting at its finest. I too was confused with the progression of the RE movies, especially since…as typical, they rewrote the goddamn plot and script.
@ GuardianMode: Why must we have laughs? Why can't they just do what they did before with Street Fighter, and invest in some badass anime artists? SF the animated movie was SICK. The new SF (that came bundled with SFIV), wasn't bad at all. Why must they take such aweful, aweful risks with casting (Jean Claud Van Damme, as Guile? Really?) and simply go with what works, while focusing on story-line and fight sequences.
@ Coverton341: There's always a diamond in the rough, isn't there? The sales pitch, that Jeri Ryan Michael Jai White, and her director friend threw to WB was pretty damn compelling. Not going to lie. But, for every one solid piece of gold, they typically butcher and murder 5-10 other great possibilities.
If the movie industry, actually cared about the core audience and developers who actually made these games/series raving successes, they'd stop looking at the dollar signs of hitting the widest possible audience (Lucas, Bay, and Singer, I'm looking at you), and simply deliver us the goddamn movie version of the goddamn game that we know every iota of information about. But no, these jerkweeds have to suck the life out of a franchise, for a few extra dollars. Priceless.
I don't understand what's the big deal with the GTA movie. The whole reason GTA became popular, was because Rockstar brought the movie experience into a game. Originally stealing a car for a chase scene was only possible on the movie, but in PS2 gamers can feel what it's like to be a criminal.
Now that gameplay has advanced so much in GTA4, bringing the gaming experience back to the big screen seems like a step back.
I liked the first Resident Evil movie. The second one started fine, but the ending sucked. The third one I didn't liked it at all. I also liked the Silent Hill movie. The rest game based movies were garbage in my opinion (Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, Mario Brothers, etc).
wont be as good as the original anyway…..
I don't really see a point in making a GTA movie, since all of the games borrow heavily from classic and modern movies anyway. Just watch Goodfellas, The Godfather Saga, Scarface, and Boyz n the Hood, and you'll basically cover the GTA III trilogy.
Though, I'm not aware of any particular movie that IV was based on, so that might make for an interesting adaptation.
From the article…
"So this means Rockstar can't make a GTA movie and on the flip side, Howard can't go and make a video game based on their film without permission."
Oh, thank god! No one wants to see Ron Howard make a Grand Theft Auto game. That would be like Angela Lansbury doing the motion capture and voice for the next Bayonetta.
::shudder::
Last edited by TheHighlander on 7/1/2010 1:00:43 PM
Quentin Tarantino, Martin Scorsese, Christopher Nolan or David Cronenberg should direct the GTA movie.
QT would be the best. He understands new media better, and his style of movie making suits the style of video games. Look at the non-linear nature of Pulp Fiction for example. Plus QT knows how to do slightly exaggerated characters without making them complete caricatures.
it would just be a bog standard action/gangster film anyway so were are not missing anything!
GTA movie will suck. It'll be a regular action movie, nothing special.
I think GTA would make a terrible movie, simply because I don't think anyone could do a good adaptation in only a couple hours. Besides that which GTA would they do, because some of them don't really have very good stories any way.
I could've swore that I heard that Rockstar wouldn't allow a GTA movie to be made anyway. For the simple fact that a GTA plot is to intricate to be put into movie form.
…why don't they just sign a contracted release form? And it would be a modified script so it would fit in the time parameters. I would think one of the bigger problems with this would be the voice of Nicco Bellic (however u spell it) and he will easily be replaced w. a decent film actor (hopefully). Seeing as Hollywood has pretty much hit the bottom of the barrel as far as concept and story goes I don't see why they shouldn't attempt a game, as long as they do it right.