A Grand Theft Auto movie is finally coming, but it’s not what you think

A Grand Theft Auto movie is finally on the way, though it’s not quite what you’d expect. The entire film, Grand Theft Hamlet, actually takes place inside the world of GTA Online.

At long last, a GTA movie is coming to the big screen. Well, sort of. While far from an adaptation of the juggernaut gaming franchise, there is nonetheless a movie involving GTA releasing in the near future.

A documentary titled ‘Grand Theft Hamlet’ is on the way. It’s a film recorded entirely in the virtual world of Los Santos. While it’s already debuted at in-person events like SXSW, even winning a few awards, it’s now set for a wider debut.

Streaming platform MUBI has acquired distribution rights for the documentary and plans to broadcast it online in early 2025, though no exact date has been locked in just yet.

As the name implies, Grand Theft Hamlet mixes the worlds of Shakespeare and Rockstar. The award-winning documentary tracks the story of two unemployed actors, Sam and Mark, during the 2021 global crisis.

The pair attempted to recreate Hamlet entirely within GTA Online. Stealing cars, shooting strangers, or taking a breather in serene locations is all done inside GTA.

Shots were largely recorded through GTA 5’s mobile phone camera, lending itself to “intimate close ups and cinematic pans across landscapes – enabling a more cinematic visual language and moments of pathos, emotion, and lyricism to exist within the chaos and violence of this undiscovered country,” as the doco’s descrption outlines.

Grand Theft Hamlet premiered earlier this year at SXSW, where it won the documentary feature jury award.

So no, it’s not an official GTA movie with the folks at Rockstar Games giving their seal of approval for a proper adaptation.

Nonetheless, it is a film featuring GTA from start to finish.