GTA 5 News: The Most Expensive Game Ever Made; Movie Deal in the Works?

Grand Theft Auto Five is coming on Sept. 17, and gamers are desperate to get their hands on Rockstar's latest masterpiece. A new report has revealed that the game may in fact be the most expensive ever made, which may explain why it's expected to be one of the best of all time.

Scottish newspaper The Scotsman is first to report the news, as Rockstar North is based in Edinburgh. GTA 5's budget comes in at £170 million, or about $266 million, according to The Scotsman. To put that number in perspective, the 2009 blockbuster movie "Avatar" cost $237 million, and 2012's "The Avengers" cost $220 million to make. Rockstar's huge budget stems from the game's five year development cycle in addition to the marketing costs to promote the game. This puts it has one of the most expensive, if not the most expensive, game ever created. However, this massive budget should not prevent the game from being a success. The Scotsmanreports that the game is expected to sell 25 million copies in its first year after launch, bringing in $1 billion in revenue. This is amazing considering the game is coming out on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 at the end of both console's life cycles, so while it will have an enormous fan base to draw from, the game may be overshadowed by the next-gen consoles and their software coming in November. 

While Grand Theft Auto 5 may have the budget of a blockbuster movie, fans should not a Grand Theft Auto movie anytime soon. Dan Houser, cofounder of Rockstar Games and vice president of creativity of the company, told The Guardian that while many studios have tried to get the movie rights to Grand Theft Auto, Rockstar is not interested in pursuing the new medium:

"We've been offered, many times, and it's never appealed. The money's never been close to be worth risking one's crown jewels. Our small dabblings with Hollywood have always left us running back to games. The freedom we have to do what we want creatively is of enormous value. The second you go near Hollywood, people seem willing, or have been forced, to lose a lot of that control. That sort of amorphous 'that won't test well' attitude is exactly how we don't work. We've always tried to think of stuff that's innovative and new, and to go into a world where that's not encouraged would be horrible... There's still plenty of kudos in doing a film, but you shouldn't ever do anything in your life for kudos."

Look out for more Grand Theft Auto 5 news right here as the game's release date draws ever closer.