Grand Theft Auto & Red Dead Movies ‘Never Made Sense’ to Rockstar

Rockstar Games co-founder Dan Houser recently revealed why there have never been movies based on Grand Theft Auto or Red Dead Redemption. The former Rockstar executive says that despite interest from various studios, the economics “never made sense.”

Why was there never a Grand Theft Auto movie?

As GameIndustry.biz reported, Houser recently had an interview with The Ankler. The interview covered various topics, including the state of Hollywood and his new company, Absurd Ventures. He also commented on the lack of GTA and Read Dead movies, saying Hollywood executives could never give a good reason to make a movie. This was also during a time when the public’s attitude towards video game movies was mostly negative. Rockstar also felt like it would be giving up control of its IP and taking on a big risk with little reward.

“They thought we’d be blinded by the lights and that just wasn’t the case,” said Houser. “We had what we considered to be multi-billion-dollar IP, and the economics never made sense. The risk never made sense. In those days, the perception was that games made poor-quality movies.”

That said, Houser does see that times are changing, which led him and other former Rockstar developers to found Absurd Ventures. The company aims to create significant franchises, starting with lower-cost formats like audiobooks and graphic novels. However, Houser hopes that some of these new IPs will branch out into other media, including games.

Of course, that doesn’t do much for anyone still hoping that Grand Theft Auto or Red Dead Redemption might one day come to the silver screen.

Daniel DeAngleo

Daniel is a writer and game reviewer from central Florida. Gaming has been a long-time passion of his, with games like Age of Empires 2 and Fable being major parts of his childhood.