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Rockstar movie seeks Bill Paxton to play former attorney Jack Thompson

There may not be a Grand Theft Auto movie in the works, but a film about the real-life drama between Rockstar Games and Jack Thompson is, with Bill Paxton in talks to play the disbarred attorney.

Ozzie Mejia

April 14, 2015 11:30 AM

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For years, Rockstar Games has maintained that a Grand Theft Auto movie simply isn't in the cards. So it appears that there's another side of the story that's on the verge of hitting the big screen. A movie based on the very public battle between Rockstar and notorious former Florida attorney Jack Thompson looks to be in the works, with casting already underway.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, BBC Films is in talks with Bill Paxton to play Thompson, who made his name blasting violent video games and going on a quixotic crusade to see violent video games legislated to the extreme. His methods eventually led to his disbarment in 2008.

The Rockstar side will be represented by Daniel Radcliffe, who will play studio co-founder Sam Houser. Director Owen Harris will take the reigns of the film, which will be based on the David Kushner book "Jacked: The Outlaw Story of Grand Theft Auto." In terms of cinematic drama, there's plenty to like here about the casting, especially given Paxton's acting range. And if "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." taught viewers anything, it's that he's totally capable of playing a convincing villain. The movie is set to shoot on April 20.

Ozzie Mejia

Senior Editor

Ozzie has been playing video games since picking up his first NES controller at age 5. He has been into games ever since, only briefly stepping away during his college years. But he was pulled back in after spending years in QA circles for both THQ and Activision, mostly spending time helping to push forward the Guitar Hero series at its peak. Ozzie has become a big fan of platformers, puzzle games, shooters, and RPGs, just to name a few genres, but he’s also a huge sucker for anything with a good, compelling narrative behind it. Because what are video games if you can't enjoy a good story with a fresh Cherry Coke?