Grand Theft Auto Movie Chances Addressed By Studio Boss Ahead Of GTA VI

Published Nov 14, 2026, 1:00 PM EST Grant Hermanns is a TV News Editor, Interview Host and Reviewer for ScreenRant, having joined the team in early 2021. He got his start in the industry with Moviepilot, followed by working at ComingSoon.net. When not indulging in his love of film/TV, Grant is making his way through his gaming backlog and exploring the world of Dungeons & Dragons with friends. Take-Two has Grand Theft Auto VI on the horizon, but they aren't racing to a movie adaptation. The Rockstar-published action game franchise has been one of the highest-grossing and most influential of all-time, with all eyes being on the arrival of the sixth game after spending over a decade in development. Set in the Florida-inspired Leonida and including a variety of iconic locations, namely Vice City, Grand Theft Auto VI is already on track to be a runaway success for Rockstar, with early reports putting pre-orders upward of 9.69 million units, an all-time record, and contributing to a solid increase in PlayStation 5 console sales. Now, in an interview on The David Rubenstein Show, Strauss Zelnick was asked about the chances of a Grand Theft Auto movie or TV adaptation happening at some point in the future. The Take-Two boss cautioned that the studio is "very careful about line extensions" when it comes to their properties, primarily because they are "a creative company" and want to ensure staying true to delivering "the best entertainment on Earth": Strauss Zelnick: We would make a movie or a television show based on our IP if our creative teams were passionate about it. If they thought that would somehow engage and delight our consumers. It’s a high bar to do that, and of course there’s always the risk of failure. So we don’t rule it out, but we’re very, very selective. With it being one of the most iconic franchises of modern gaming, it's certainly understandable that the question of a Grand Theft Auto adaptation continues to be raised to those behind the series. Dan Houser, a Rockstar co-founder and creative director on multiple GTA titles, previously confirmed talks had happened at various points for an adaptation, but it was too big of a risk, particularly as the cinematic genre was in a troubled state at those prior points. One such pitch brought to Houser and his brother and fellow Rockstar founder was a Grand Theft Auto movie led by Eminem and helmed by Top Gun's Tony Scott. Despite the combined talent in the mix, and the promise of a $5 million deal, the pair again swiftly declined the offer in order to stick with their vision for the series and grow it even further than what it was at the time. In more recent years, though, video game adaptations have taken a turn for the better. On the big screen, the Chris Pratt-led Super Mario movies have claimed the top spots for the highest-grossing films in the genre with over $1 billion each, while Jason Momoa's A Minecraft Movie became a viral sensation with over $961 million and Paramount's Sonic the Hedgehog films rose from a $320 million beginning to $492 million in its most recent outing. Choose the movie with the higher Rotten Tomatoes score. That being said, the reluctance for a Grand Theft Auto movie makes sense given Rockstar's only venture into adaptation territory was that of Mark Wahlberg's Max Payne in 2008. While a modest box office success, grossing over $85 million against its $35 million production budget, it was a critical disaster, resulting in thoughts for a sequel to be scrapped and, at one point, talks of a reboot circulating at 20th Century Fox. The other element that serves as a major hurdle for a Grand Theft Auto adaptation is what approach to take in translating the games for the screen. Between its anthological nature, different settings and open-world formula, narrowing down the choice between telling an original story or retelling one of the prior ones is a hefty thing to consider. However, given Prime Video's Fallout series has enjoyed wide success with its focus on original storytelling mixed with game elements, it's not entirely out of the realm of possibility. Released November 19, 2026 ESRB Rating Pending - Likely Mature 17+ Developer(s) Rockstar Games Publisher(s) Rockstar Games Engine Rockstar Advanced Game Engine (RAGE) Multiplayer Online Multiplayer Jason Duval and Lucia Caminos are trying to build a better life in Leonida when an easy score goes wrong and pulls them into a criminal conspiracy stretching across the state. The sixth installment in Rockstar Games' incomparable generational franchise, GTA VI's new Miami-flavored locale promises another violence-filled sandbox leveraged by cutting edge tech.