Elijah Wood, the star of The Lord of the Rings trilogy, talking about his video game background in the recent episode of Hot Ones with First We Feast said that the Rockstar Games’ biggest franchise to date – Grand Theft Auto (GTA) – should be adapted into some sort of movie or TV series.
When the host of the Youtube Interview series ‘Hot Ones’ – Sean Evans – asked Elijah Wood that is there any game that is especially right for a screenplay adaptation? Wood simply responded ‘GTA’ and said,
“The universe of GTA lends itself beautifully to a screen adaptation or a TV show. I mean, I think, Vice City could be amazing, although that already is sort of inspired by Miami Vice. But GTA V I mean, the kinds of characters that are present within the context of that game very much lends itself, either to a film or a TV series that would be amazing.”
The above statement can be seen at the 9:26 mark in the video below:
Further, coming on the topic of Horror games, Evans and Wood have a word on its difference from horror films. Wood said that video games are an immersive experience whereas films are passive.
“There are sequels made of Silent Hill which are really rearranged to play. You’re not there to watch but making the choice to go down that hallway…I think there is a level of eagerness and sort of, within the context of the interactivity that may make it scarier.”
A movie or TV series adaptation of Grand Theft Auto is a thing that many of us fans want to see happen from a long time now. Even Rockstar Games co-founder Dan Houser and Karl Slatoff, the president of Rockstar’s parent company Take-Two have said in the past that they have explored numerous Grand Theft Auto movie deals, but they never happened because the studio is specialized in games, not movies.
And according to them, to work with someone else for a movie would mean relinquishing at the least control of “the most valuable intellectual property ever created by mankind.”