Take-Two Interactive, parent company of Grand Theft Auto developer Rockstar Games, has filed a lawsuit against the BBC over a dramatic, narrative feature the British network is currently producing about the making of Grand Theft Auto.
“Our goal is to ensure that our trademarks are not misused in the BBC’s pursuit of an unofficial depiction of purported events related to Rockstar Games,” the company said in a statement. “We have attempted multiple times to resolve this matter with the BBC without any meaningful resolution. It is our obligation to protect our intellectual property and unfortunately in this case litigation was necessary.”
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You’d think the developer of a game that’s literally about being a criminal and lampooning American culture, including all of its overly litigious, politically correct extremes (and one that’s been sued by Lindsay Lohan for using her likeness without permission), would be more chill about this, but no.
The BBC probably wouldn’t even make the movie if Rockstar Games didn’t have a history of controversy. The BBC movie, titled Game Changer, specifically focuses on Rockstar’s fight again Jack Thompson, a Florida lawyer who led a very loud crusade against violent video games and GTA specifically until he was disbarred in 2008 and faded into obscurity.
Harry Potter Daniel Radcliffe has been cast as Sam Houser, one of the two brothers who co-founded Rockstar Games and supposedly the lead of the movie, and American national treasure Bill Paxton will play Jack Thompson. Owen Harris, whose most notable credit is directing the “Be Right Back” episode of Black Mirror, is set to direct.
So far, the BBC said it “does not comment on legal matters.”
There’s probably a great, The Social Network-type of movie to be made about modern, blockbuster video game development, but I’m not sure if a BBC production can pull it off, even if it does survive this legal battle.
What the BBC knows for sure is that there’s an audience out there for a movie about GTA. Take-Two announced in its latest quarterly earnings report said that GTA V alone has shipped 52 million units since it launched in 2013.
