Rumor: There “was” a GTA movie in the works?

As you guys probably suspected, Take-Two Interactive did attempt to make a movie adaptation of Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto game franchise.

While the details regarding this movie are well within the realm of speculation, they still make for a good read. More info available in the full article.

Through a rumor we’ve picked up, Take-Two Interactive was planning to create  a movie based on Rockstar’s highly successfully Grand Theft Auto franchise. What’s more, the rumors indicated that rapper Eminem would be playing the lead role.

Based on our sources, the idea GTA movie came together shortly after the financial scandals that rocked Take-Two back in early 2007. The said controversy saw the ousting of five of the company’s six board members, and the arrest of then company CEO Ryan Bryant.

The new chairman, Strauss Zelnick, reportedly carries strong ties with both the music and movie industries given his previous work as the BMG music CEO, and 20th Century Fox former president. it was around this time that the prospect movie deal was finally opened up by Rockstar, who had consistently been against the idea of a movie-to-game port.

By spring of last year, it was rumored that take-Two had already established a deal with a studio to develop the GTA movie. The production’s writers were reportedly in the process of writing the film’s story, when the whole thing suddenly got scrapped. No explanations were given for the sudden pullout.

At the moment, both Take-Two and Rockstar are finalizing the upcoming release of Grand Theft Auto 4 for the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360. Who knows – following the game’s success, they just might think about reviving the movie idea.

Via The Cut Scene