It might seem strange that we've never seen a Grand Theft Auto movie. All the pieces seem to be there. A clear narrative to follow, an IP that sells incredibly well, and plenty of excuses to have classic Hollywood blockbuster things like explosions and fast cars.
However, according to Rockstar co-founder Dan Houser, a Grand Theft Auto or Red Dead movie has never felt right. Speaking with The Ankler, he revealed that there were many times during his tenure at Rockstar where he was approached about a movie.
"After a few awkward dates we'd ask [the executives], why would we do this?" Houser said. Apparently, this question received the response of "you get to make a movie."
"And we'd be like, no, what you've described is you making a movie and us having no control and taking a huge risk that we're going to end up paying for with something that belongs to us," Houser said. "They thought we'd be blinded by the lights and that just wasn't the case. We had what we considered to be multi-billion-dollar IP, and the economics never made sense. The risk never made sense. In those days, the perception was that games made poor-quality movies."
So, Houser and co. stuck to their guns, and made Grand Theft Auto excel as a video game franchise first and foremost. The same was true for Red Dead, and even though they both might seem easily adaptable, the problem lies in Rockstar handing its baby over to a studio.
