A scant few days ago, a report arrived that Daniel Radcliffe was considering playing Grand Theft Auto creator Sam Houser in a drama about the battle between the Rockstar Games president and a lawyer who fought to have the title banned as part of a drive to clean up the media. With Radcliffe now signed, Bill Paxton is in talks to play the legal eagle{
BBC Films is producing this one, with director Owen Harris working from a script by James Wood that chronicles Houser’s stand-off with Miami lawyer Jack Thompson, who went on a crusade against rap and sex, then turned his attention to video games. His unorthodox actions eventually led to him being disbarred in 2008. Grand Theft Auto, meanwhile, has gone from strength to strength, becoming one of the biggest franchises in the gaming world.
Currently titled Grand Theft Auto, the film represents the closest we’re likely to get to GTA becoming a movie about the game, as Rockstar has been insistent that a cinematic version will never happen.
Based on David Kushner’s book Jacked: The Outlaw Story Of Grand Theft Auto, the film starts shooting on April 20. Paxton, last seen in Nightcrawler, will next show up in Term Life and animated comedy fantasy Pixies.