There was once a chance that Grand Theft Auto could have been adapted into a full movie. As stated by the man behind Earthworm Jim, Kirk Ewing, on the Bugzy Malone podcast, it has been mentioned that a GTA movie was pitched to Rockstar, but was turned down by the game development company.
It's said that the movie was going to star Eminem in the lead role, and would have been directed by Tony Scott (Top Gun), and was originally pitched around the time of GTA III.
"This was just after Grand Theft Auto 3. And I think, at that point, it was still in Sam's mind that it might be something that he wanted to do," said Ewing on the podcast. "I remember taking a call at about 4 a.m. from one of the producers in LA with an offer to make a film. And he said, 'Kirk, we've got Eminem to star, and it's a Tony Scott film, $5 million on the nose, are you interested?'"
It's said that from here Rockstar's Sam Houser turned down the offer, because the game company realised that the GTA franchise was "bigger than any movie that was going on at the time," as Ewing put it.
Would you have seen a GTA movie starring Eminem?