As with any blockbuster game series, rumours always swirl around that Grand Theft Auto is being eyed for a movie adaptation or Sopranos-style TV show. However, that's what such talk is: rumour. Now Rockstar boss man Dan Houser has explained why it's unlikely to ever happen.
Weve been offered, many times, and its never appealed, he told The Guardian. The moneys never been close to be worth risking ones crown jewels. Our small dabblings with Hollywood have always left us running back to games. The freedom we have to do what we want creatively is of enormous value.
Houser goes on to explain that Hollywood studios have always tried to alter or change GTA to fit their preconceptions of what sells, and Rockstar simply isn't interested in compromise not even on the small screen. Its much easier to imagine GTA as a TV series, as the form is closer, Houser confesses, but I still think wed be losing too much to ever actually do it.
Weve got this big open-world experience thats 100 hours long, and that gives players control over what they do, what they see, and how they see it. A world where you can do everything from rob a bank to take a yoga lesson to watch TV, all in your own time. How do you condense that into a two-hour or 12-hour experience where you take away the main things: player agency and freedom?
He's got a point. Grand Theft Auto V will no doubt prove him right when it hits next week on September 17th.