Rockstar Games Supposedly Rejected 'Grand Theft Auto' Film Starring Eminem

A Grand Theft Auto film starring Eminem was supposedly rejected by Rockstar Games in the early 2000s.

In a recent appearance on Bugzy Malone's Grandest Game podcast, Kirk Ewing, an industry veteran and friend of GTA creators Sam and Dan Houser, explained that Sam turned down a $5 million USD offer for the movie rights just shortly after Grand Theft Auto III was released in 2001. Top Gun director Tony Scott was meant to helm the film while Eminem, who had just released The Marshall Mathers LP the year before and won Best Rap Album Best Rap Solo Performance at the 2001 GRAMMYs, was set to star.

“[The agent] said, ‘Kirk, we’ve got Eminem to star, and it’s a Tony Scott film. $5 million on the nose. Are you interested?'” Ewing said. “And I phoned up Sam and I said: ‘Listen to this. They want Eminem in the Grand Theft Auto movie and Tony Scott to direct.' And he said: ‘Not interested’ … They realized that the media franchise that they had was bigger than any movie that was going on at the time.”

Although the GTA movie never materialized, Em ended up making his film debut with 8 Mile the year after, which earned him an Academy Award for Best Original Song for "Lose Yourself."

In related news, Eminem is bringing his Mom's Spaghetti concept restaurant to New York.