Rockstar Games seemingly said no to a GTA Movie starring Eminem


Eminem in a GTA game.

While some GTA players are already looking forward to GTA 6, having begun to plan out their first playthroughs and who they’d like to see cameo in the game, others are taking the opportunity to replay some of the series’ classic entries before it arrives.

After all, if you don’t enjoy trying to predict what the next game’s map will look like and aren’t plotting out how you might earn enough cash to be able to buy a private island, why not go back and relive the memories of your first San Andreas playthrough?

However, one thing you won’t be able to do is watch a GTA movie, though a newly released podcast suggests that this was potentially on the table at one point, with a hip hop icon seemingly set to play a starring role.

Do you wish this GTA film had ended up becoming a thing?

Speaking during episode two of the BBC’s Bugzy Malone’s Grandest Game podcast, which sees the UK rapper do a deep dive into the GTA series, games industry veteran Kirk Ewing suggested that a Hollywood tit-in might have been on the cards around the time of GTA 3’s release in 2001.

“Because of the relationship that I had with Rockstar and I had with Sam (Houser), I actually tracked him down to his hotel room one night where I knew he was going to be staying, and the two of us stayed up late and talked about the possibility of making a film.” says Ewing, who was working as an agent at the time, adding: “I think at that point, you know, it was still in Sam’s mind that it might be something that he wanted to do.”

However, supposedly when an offer came in from a producer to make a film centred around the series that would allegedly star Eminem, who had just finished working on 8 Mile and be directed by Tony Scott, whose credits include Top Gun and Days of Thunder, Houser turned it down.

As for the motivation behind this decision, Ewing suggests: “They (Rockstar) realised that the media franchise that they had, what they had, was bigger than any movie that was going on at the time.”

Regardless of whether you think Eminem becoming a GTA protagonist would be viewed positively in hindsight, make sure to follow us for more GTA 6 and GTA Online updates as new vehicles and more arrive.

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