Rockstar Games' vice president of creative Dan Houser explains why the company has been reluctant to turn their hottest titles, such as Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption, into feature films.
The Hollywood Reporter's interview with Houser was ostensibly about Rockstar's L.A. Noire recently being honored as an Official Selection at the 2011 Tribeca Film Festival, the first video game to ever be recognized by the festival. But when the chat turned to the broader topic of video game movies, Houser explained Rockstar's reasons for not embracing the idea of Hollywood adapting their games for the screen.
The Hollywood Reporter's interview with Houser was ostensibly about Rockstar's L.A. Noire recently being honored as an Official Selection at the 2011 Tribeca Film Festival, the first video game to ever be recognized by the festival. But when the chat turned to the broader topic of video game movies, Houser explained Rockstar's reasons for not embracing the idea of Hollywood adapting their games for the screen.
"Virtually all movies made from games are awful, while many games made from movies are also pretty horrible. This will change, but with an ever more discerning audience, the goals of taking something from film-to-games or game-to-film have to be more than financial," said Houser. "If you feel the property has something about it that is universal or could work in another medium, and it is not simply about making easy money, then that is something worthwhile."
He added, "We have explored a lot of movie deals, but we have just chosen not to make a movie. We love movies, but we also love games and that is what we remain focused on. If we were to attempt to make a movie, we would like to make it ourselves, or at least work in collaboration with the best talent, so at least if it is bad, we can know we failed on our own terms. But doing that takes time, and making games properly takes a lot of time. So, we may make movies one day, with the right property and the right partnership, but we have not found the time to do that yet."
He added, "We have explored a lot of movie deals, but we have just chosen not to make a movie. We love movies, but we also love games and that is what we remain focused on. If we were to attempt to make a movie, we would like to make it ourselves, or at least work in collaboration with the best talent, so at least if it is bad, we can know we failed on our own terms. But doing that takes time, and making games properly takes a lot of time. So, we may make movies one day, with the right property and the right partnership, but we have not found the time to do that yet."
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