GTA Movie Going Nowhere Due To Legal Hurdle
Legal 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?
Tags: grand theft auto, movie, gta
7/1/2010 10:44:37 AM Ben Dutka
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Comments (18 posts)
Mornelithe
Thursday, July 01, 2010 @ 11:07:23 AM
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godsman
Thursday, July 01, 2010 @ 11:10:21 AM
GuardianMode
Thursday, July 01, 2010 @ 11:13:47 AM
coverton341
Thursday, July 01, 2010 @ 11:17:35 AM
Mornelithe
Thursday, July 01, 2010 @ 11:33:35 AM
@ 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.
godsman
Thursday, July 01, 2010 @ 11:08:19 AM
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Now that gameplay has advanced so much in GTA4, bringing the gaming experience back to the big screen seems like a step back.
556pineapple
Thursday, July 01, 2010 @ 12:19:55 PM
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Though, I'm not aware of any particular movie that IV was based on, so that might make for an interesting adaptation.
Highlander
Thursday, July 01, 2010 @ 1:00:12 PM
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"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 Highlander on 7/1/2010 1:00:43 PM
Highlander
Thursday, July 01, 2010 @ 1:08:55 PM
TheRaPtuRe
Thursday, July 01, 2010 @ 2:18:23 PM
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King_Krollen
Thursday, July 01, 2010 @ 11:11:31 PM
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CharlesD
Friday, July 02, 2010 @ 12:51:21 PM
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frylock25
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Thursday, July 01, 2010 @ 11:02:43 AM