Is Rockstar going to start making their own movies?

Rockstar Games, the studio behind some of the best games ever released, has recently filed for a new trademark, Rockstar Films. Filed in December, the trademark will be official towards the end of this month, and will be more expansive than the one that was filed back in 2004.

The trademark looks set to allow Rockstar to produce films in a wide variety of media, describing itself as “Animated motion picture films featuring entertainment, namely, action, adventure, dramatic, comedic, children’s and documentary themes; pre-recorded video discs and other pre-recorded digital and electronic media in the field of live action programs, motion pictures, or animation featuring entertainment, namely, action, adventure, dramatic, comedic, children’s and documentary themes”.

If Rockstar decides to go the animated route with films based on their properties, at least they’d have plenty to choose from. GTA, Bully and Red Dead Redemption were almost interactive films, barring the generous helpings of ultra-violence and moral dilemmas which gamers had to work their way through. And then Rockstar has other properties under their belt, such as Max Payne, manhunt and LA Noire.

Earlier this year, 1up.com interviewed Rockstar Vice President Dan Houser about the possibility of them making their own films.

“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.”

If Rockstar plans to make films themselves, this might be a step in the right direction, as most video game adaptations have been in the generally camp and terrible range. Either most game properties are snapped up by Hollywood only to languish in development hell, or Uwe Boll sticks his head around the corner and somehow convinces the people to allow him to direct, resulting in a terrible experience for everyone.

So hopefully this time next year we’ll all be buying popcorn for Red Dead Redemption: The film. In 3D.

Source: 1up.com

Last Updated: July 11, 2011