Original Grand Theft Auto Developers Respond to BBC Drama

The BBC's recent announcement regarding their plans to film and air a drama centered on the studio and development of Grand Theft Auto has been addressed by some of its original developers.

DMA Design, the studio known for creating the 1997 game Grand Theft Auto (then called Race 'n' Chase) will likely make an appearance in some form throughout the film, while the script will be greatly influenced by Daniel Kushner's book Jacked: The Outlaw Story of Grand Theft Auto.

GamesRadar reports Steve Hammond of DMA Design is worried the studio's take won't be presented on film. "I find it quite telling that no-one from DMA I’ve spoken to so far seems to know anything about it. With Rockstar’s famous reticence to talk to anyone, that makes the only behind the scenes source David Kushner’s book Jacked, which frankly has me a bit worried."

With the lack of communication, Hammond predicts that DMA's story will be "an opening text crawl before the main credits," after which the film will skip over GTA's early years and dive into the creation and controversy of Grand Theft Auto III.

It's the dramatic storytelling of the series, however, that has Hammond the most worried.

"The biggest hurdle that a drama will have to overcome - possibly by sheer invention - is that there wasn’t a single defined moment when GTA came into being," Hammond said. "No singular act of creation, no flash of lightning, no sense of something which was destined to be forged in a mighty act of creativity."

It's possible they won't have to worry about this, however, since the drama will reportedly focus on Sam and Dan Houser, the brothers behind Grand Theft Auto.

The drama will begin filming on April 20 and is expected to air later this year, and actor Daniel Radcliffe is rumored to star.

Read IGN's Grand Theft Auto V review to learn more about Rockstar's blockbuster series.

Cassidee is a freelance writer for various outlets around the web. You can chat with her about all things geeky on Twitter.