GTA Movie Actor Says Film Will Depict Rockstar's "Collision Course" With Jack Thompson

The BBC's upcoming Grand Theft Auto TV movie, Game Changer, will depict Rockstar Games co-founder Sam Houser and anti-game lawyer Jack Thompson on a "collision course." That's according to actor Bill Paxton, who plays Thompson in the movie, and spoke with The Wall Street Journal recently about it.

"They end up on this collision course," Paxton said about Sam Houser and Thompson. "It's an interesting piece because it's pretty well-leveaned. You've got the freedom of expression and stuff, and then you've got, 'Oh gosh, is there a line there?' I thought it was really a good script."

Sam Houser will be played by Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe.

The movie was at least partially shot in Cape Town, South Africa, Paxton said. He wrapped his scenes just a couple weeks ago. Game Changer does not yet have a premiere date.

The made-for-TV movie is centered around Thompson's appeal to the family of Devin Moore, the Alabama man who shot and killed three police officers in 2005. In court, Thompson sought to show how the developers of Grand Theft Auto, Rockstar Games, along with console-makers, were at least partially responsible for the crime. Moore was sentenced to death and is currently on death row.

At the time, the real-world Thompson said about the case:

"What we're saying is that Devin Moore was, in effect, trained to do what he did. He was given a murder simulator. He bought it as a minor. He played it hundreds of hours, which is primarily a cop-killing game. It's our theory, which we think we can prove to a jury in Alabama, that, but for the video game training, he would not have done what he did."

As you might expect, Game Changer is generating quite a stir. Some of the original Grand Theft Auto developers are not happy about the movie, which is being produced without the participation of Rockstar Games or parent company Take-Two Interactive. For its part, Take-Two recently filed a lawsuit against the BBC regarding the movie's use of the Grand Theft Auto IP, but not to stop the film from airing.