The BBC is going forward with its dramatic retelling of Grand Theft Auto’s creation and controversy, and the broadcasting company has released its first commercial for the film.
The trailer for The Gamerchangers, which tells the story of developer Rockstar Games and Grand Theft Auto, is now online. It reveals that the story will largely focus on Rockstar founder and GTA creative lead Sam Houser, who Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe plays.
[aditude-amp id="flyingcarpet" targeting='{"env":"staging","page_type":"article","post_id":1796668,"post_type":"story","post_chan":"none","tags":null,"ai":false,"category":"none","all_categories":"games,","session":"D"}']The teaser shows a bearded, scruffy-looking Radcliffe telling his team of developers that games are the future as the voiceover refers to him as a “British genius.”
Playing opposite Radcliffe’s genius is Bill Paxton, who looks like he will chew up scenery with his American rube-style portrayal of now-discredited lawyer Jack Thompson. Throughout the 2000s, Thompson was on a crusade to get GTA and other violent games removed from store shelves in an effort to ostensibly protect children. That conflict will serve as the central struggle in the film.
Check out the ad for The Gamechangers below:
BBC Two in the United Kingdom will air The Gamechangers September 15. This is despite a Rockstar threatening to file a lawsuit against the BBC over trademark infringement, as it claims this film uses Rockstar-owned material without permission.
If that suit does go forward, Houser’s company will likely have a difficult time making a strong enough case to get the film banned. Cinema has a long history of producing unauthorized docudramas about modern-day famous people. Most notably, Sony Pictures released The Social Network in 2010 about Mark Zuckerberg and the creation of Facebook.