Credit: Grand Theft Auto III
Can you imagine Eminem in a starring role in Grand Theft Auto? To be fair, when the rapper made his debut in 8 Mile back in 2002, he impressed audiences and critics as he felt extremely natural as an onscreen presence. Following his breakthrough turn as an actor, Eminem (aka Marshall Bruce Mathers III), hasn’t done much in the world of films. While Eminem is still active in the music world, the only other acting credits that he has is on the HBO series Entourage, The Interview, Funny People, and Crank Yankers. However, those were small roles and cameos, as Eminem’s focus has been mainly been in music. There were reports that the rapper was actually considered as the lead for Elysium, though he ultimately turned down the role due to Neill Blomkamp not wanting to film in Detroit, Michigan.
It now appears that Eminem was actually considered for plenty of other roles that haven’t come to fruition. The rapper has some ties to video games as he was the voice of Detective McVicar in the 50 Cent: Bulletproof game. However, the rapper also came close to playing a live-action adaptation of one of the most popular games on the planet, Grand Theft Auto. According to Kirk Ewing, a friend of Rockstar co-founders Sam and Dan Houser, an LA producer actually offered $5 million to buy the rights to Grand Theft Auto for a film starring the multi-time Grammy award winner, with Tony Scott in the director’s chair; however, that pitch was ultimately shot down. Of course, the offer was discussed between Ewing and Sam, which would’ve been a movie adaptation or tie-in following the launch of GTA 3 in 2001.
Credit: Grand Theft Auto III
However, once the brothers declined the deal, the conversations of a possible GTA film simply ended, “At that point,” Ewing explained on Bugzy Malone’s Grandest Game podcast, “they withdrew from any conversation about making a film when they realized that the media franchise they had was bigger than any movie that was going on at the time.”
The news of Hollywood knocking on the door of Rockstar isn’t surprising given the numerous video game adaptations throughout the years. Ever since Grand Theft Auto arrived on the scene in 1997, the franchise is arguably the most lucrative video game series of all time. Throughout the main series and a couple of spin-offs, $8 billion-plus has been made. The video game typically gains high praise from both fans and critics, though admittedly, it is surprising that a film version of the games has yet to be made.
Credit: Grand Theft Auto III
Grand Theft Auto‘s fun and unique characters and story would perfectly translate over to film, though that does depend on the way the series is adapted by the filmmaker. Grand Theft Auto is an extremely popular series so it would be shocking if Tinseltown didn’t try to coax Rockstar into signing over the rights for a feature or television to be made, though given how lucrative the franchise has grown since 2001, $5 million probably isn’t enough in this day and age.
As for Grand Theft Auto, a new game hasn’t been released since 2013. Though Rockstar has kept fans busy with updates and online play, many are surely wondering when Grand Theft Auto 6 will finally arrive. Rockstar already confirmed the sequel back in February, and with the recent leaks of the video game, it’s clear that the studio is deep in the development stage of the upcoming video game. Thus far, an official date has yet to be confirmed for Grand Theft Auto 6; however, one thing’s for sure, fans will surely come out and buy the highly anticipated sequel whenever it comes out.Entourage
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