Grand Theft Auto Movie Starring Eminem Was Rejected by Rockstar

Video games getting movie treatment is not an uncommon thing, but one game that seems like an easy adaptation, Grand Theft Auto, has never made the leap. According to a current profile on the series, however, it almost did at one point.

In a recent interview with Kirk Ewing on the BBC Sounds podcast based on rapper Bugzy Malone and the impact games have had on him (via Eurogamer), Ewing and Chris Warburton broke down the history of the game franchise. Ewing, who was working as an agent in Hollywood in the early 2000s, then recounted a story about how, shortly after Grand Theft Auto III was released, talks about a movie based on the series had started to form.

“This was just after 3 [released],” Ewing said, “and I think at that point it was still in [Sam Houser, co-founder, and president of Rockstar Games]’s mind that it might be something that they wanted to do.”

After some more prodding from Warburton, Ewing then announced that he had received calls from a producer in Los Angeles, who offered to make a Grand Theft Auto movie starring none other than Marshall Mathers, or Eminem as he’s known around the world. The project would be directed by Tony Scott (Top Gun), and Ewing was told that Rockstar would receive $5 million for the film. However, after talking with Houser, Ewing said the Rockstar Games President shut down the idea.

“At that point,” Ewing continued, “they withdrew from any discussion about making a movie when they realized the media franchise they had was bigger than any movie that was going on at the time.”