Harry Potter aka Daniel Radcliffe could play Sam Houser in the BBC Grand Theft Auto drama.
Radcliffe is reportedly in negotiations to play the lead role in the 90-minute BBC drama about the creation of the Grand Theft Auto series.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Radcliffe is set to play Sam Houser, the co-founder of Rockstar Games.
The drama will detail Houser’s clashes with anti-gaming activist and now-disbarred attorney Jack Thompson over what Thompson believed were unacceptable levels of violence in videogames.
The one-off BBC special is based on a book by David Kushner and is currently named simply Grand Theft Auto.
Owen Harris will direct the special, following his success with episodes of British series Black Mirror and Misfits.
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Although the original Grand Theft Auto was released in 1997, it wasn’t until Grand Theft Auto 3 (the first of the series to be made in 3D) was released in 2001 that the series gained global attention.
Thompson had already crusaded against certain rap and hip-hop artists during the 1990s and began to latch on to the GTA series for its violence, especially linked to school shootings and other acts of violence.
In 2003, he sought $246 million in damages from GTA publisher Take Two Interactive, Sony for the PlayStation platform and Wal-Mart for selling the game when a 16-year-old boy shot a friend to death.
He was reportedly “obsessed” with GTA 3 and Thompson thought it was to blame.
The case was thrown out of court, but that didn’t stop Thompson from continuing his campaign against video games. That included targeting other Rockstar Games’ titles including Bully and Manhunt and games from other publishers like Mortal Kombat.
Thompson continued to file litigations until 2008 when he was permanently disbarred from the Florida bar for inappropriate conduct.
There’s no word on who may play Thompson in the BBC drama as yet.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
