GTA Proposal (Final)

8
GRAND THEFT AUTO FRANCHISE PROPOSAL FMS 482 March 3, 2011 Cody Ballentine, Michael Bennett, Josh Brown, Andrew Finch, Zac Helm, Andy Jeffreys, Ryan Ossalear, Eric Psihoules, Sandra Sanchez

description

Mock franchise proposal document for Grand Theft Auto. Document part of franchise assignment for Kevin Sandler's Entertainment Industries class at Arizona State University. Proposal is for educational purposes only.

Transcript of GTA Proposal (Final)

Page 1: GTA Proposal (Final)

!

GRAND THEFT AUTO FRANCHISE PROPOSAL

FMS 482

March 3, 2011

Cody Ballentine, Michael Bennett, Josh Brown, Andrew Finch, Zac Helm, Andy Jeffreys,

Ryan Ossalear, Eric Psihoules, Sandra Sanchez

Page 2: GTA Proposal (Final)

2

Warner Bros. Pictures presents !

GRAND THEFT AUTO …Only the sinful survive.

Genre: Action/Crime/Thriller

Rating: R (for pervasive language, violence, drug use, and sexuality)

U.S. Release Date: August 2012

Cast: Gerard Butler, Olivia Wilde, Benicio Del Toro, Teresa Palmer, Chris !Ludacris" Bridges, Michael Imperioli

Director: Guy Ritchie

Producer: Joel Silver

Screenplay by: William Monahan

Based on the game series by: Rockstar Games

---

Proposal Contents

Press Release……………. 3

Story Outline…………….... 5

Marketing Elements……... 6

Marketing Plan…………….7

Page 3: GTA Proposal (Final)

3

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

‘GRAND THEFT AUTO’ ANNOUNCED: VIDEO GAME ADAPTED!

FOR THEATERS WITH SUMMER 2012 RELEASE

BURBANK, Calif., March 2, 2011 – Rockstar Games’ enormously popular video game

universe comes to life when “Grand Theft Auto” hits theaters in 2012.

Warner Bros. Pictures announced today they are moving forward with a film based on a

script by William Monahan (“The Departed”, “Body of Lies”). Gerard Butler will be

playing Claude, a criminal who gets tied up between two gangs and is trying hard to

survive among vice and betrayal in the big city.

This is the first chapter in a proposed trilogy for Grand Theft Auto, unleashing a new era

of filmmaking through the partnership between Rockstar and Warner Bros., which is

contracted to release the upcoming films.

“Grand Theft Auto has been the subject of media attention for over a decade, but fans

of the series understand that at its core, it’s more than just senseless violence. Rockstar

has developed incredibly complex stories to pair with their state of the art graphics, and

we want to maintain that superior quality when translating the game onto the big

screen,” said Alan F. Horn, President of Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc.

Butler is set to star in the film, teaming up once again with director Guy Ritchie

(“Sherlock Holmes”, “Snatch”). The pair worked together on Warner Bros. action thriller

“RockNRolla” in 2008.

“It’s hard to think of another video game that has been more embedded in popular

culture over the last decade than Grand Theft Auto,” Ritchie said. “The game itself is

cinematic, and it’s my pleasure to guide new audiences through the corrupt, sexy, and

Page 4: GTA Proposal (Final)

4

dangerous world of Liberty City. Just like the game did when it first appeared in 1997,

we plan on breaking new ground and turning some heads.”

“We trust in Guy Ritchie’s ability to convey the Grand Theft Auto universe through his

unique vision and style,” Horn said. “We’re supremely confident that he won’t let even

the most loyal fans of the series down,” Horn said.

The story takes place in fictional Liberty City, which very closely mirrors New York City.

Olivia Wilde, Benicio Del Toro, Teresa Palmer, and Michael Imperioli are also set to star

in the film.

Principal photography is scheduled to begin this spring.

Targeted for release in August 2012, the Grand Theft Auto movie will be distributed

worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.

###

About Warner Bros Entertainment

Warner Bros. Entertainment – a fully integrated, broad-based entertainment company –

is a global leader in the creation, production, distributions, licensing, and marketing of all

forms of creative content and their related businesses, across all current and emerging

media and platforms. The company stands at the forefront of every aspect of the

entertainment industry from feature film, TV, and home entertainment production to

worldwide distribution to DVD, digital distribution, animation, comic books licensing,

international cinemas and broadcasting.

For more information, please contact:

Sandra Sanchez,

Media Relations, Feature Films

Warner Bros. Pictures

Email: [email protected]

Page 5: GTA Proposal (Final)

5

GRAND THEFT AUTO

SYNOPSIS By Michael Bennett

The film begins on a dreary and stormy night; torrential rain-pour covers the streets until

an image of a bank is revealed. An explosion occurs with Claude and Catalina fleeing

the scene. Presumed lovers, Catalina betrays Claude by shooting him and leaving him

for dead at the scene of the crime. Claude survives, but is arrested and taken to jail. As

he is being escorted to prison in a police van with other criminals, a gang of thugs take

down the van in an attempt to rescue a fellow member, enabling Claude to escape

along with a fellow convict known only as 8-Ball.

8-Ball listens to Claude"s tale of Catalina"s betrayal and offers to gain him a meeting

with one of Liberty City"s most powerful figures for helping him evade prison. Claude

meets Joey Leone and Tony Cipriani who make Claude show his loyalty by killing a man

and disposing of his remains a dump-yard. After these tasks are completed, Claude is

allowed to meet Salvatore Leone who reveals to Claude that Catalina sided with a

Japanese gang with an opportunity of greater finances. Salvatore asks Claude to drive

his daughter, Maria Leone home, in which a passionate romance ensues. Claude

proclaims his love for Maria, and tells her he must speak with the Japanese Yakuza to

discover why Catalina betrayed him.

Upon proving his loyalty to the Yakuza crime lord Kenji by killing an adversary, Kenji

reveals Salvatore Leone set Claude up and admits Catalina was working for him the

entire time. Claude rushes to Salvatore"s residence in pursuit of the truth only to be

confronted by the Italians who are aware Claude knows what really happened. Claude

butchers his way through Salvatore"s men until he ends facing Leone one-on-one.

Before Claude savagely kills him, Salvatore reveals he is using his daughter as bait,

who is being held captive by Catalina. Fearing for her life, Claude speeds to Maria"s

rescue. With the assistance of the Yakuza on his side, (after a very deadly fight with the

remaining Italians) Claude eventually gets the best of Catalina. He rescues Maria and

embarks with her (in a fast vehicle) into the great unknown.

Page 6: GTA Proposal (Final)

6

GRAND THEFT AUTO

DIRECTED BY Guy Ritchie

PRODUCED BY

Joel Silver

SCREENPLAY BY William Monahan

THE CAST Claude……………………Gerard Butler Catalina…………………..Olivia Wilde 8-Ball……………………..Chris !Ludacris" Bridges Joey Leone………………Stephen Graham Tony Cipriani…………….Michael Imperioli Salvatore Leone…………Benicio Del Toro Maria Leone……………..Teresa Palmer Kenji……………………...Ken Watanabe

Gerard Butler – Known for his strong presence in action films. He"s a lead with credibility for the male audience and sex appeal for the female audience. Also can sell prior experience with director.

Olivia Wilde – Expanding more into films. A vicious, sexy female antagonist with both male and female fans.

Chris !Ludacris" Bridges – Has immensely succeeded in similar roles. His addition to the soundtrack plus his proven acting skills make him a great fit.

Stephen Graham – Italian-looking English actor, successfully portrayed gangsters in the past and is currently on HBO"s Boardwalk Empire.

Michael Imperioli – Known for his Mafioso character on HBO"s The Sopranos.

Benicio Del Toro – An appropriately sinister and menacing villain

Teresa Palmer – Sexy, rising starlet, with scene-stealing capability.

Ken Watanabe – Japanese actor, very recognizable to audiences, current.

MPAA RATING R – language, violence, drug use, sexuality. Cultural Relevance Grand Theft Auto is consistently a top selling video game, topping sales each year a new installment has been released. The graphic and explicit content has always been a highly controversial topic.

Page 7: GTA Proposal (Final)

7

GRAND THEFT AUTO

Primary Demographic: Male (18-35) Secondary Demographic: Female (18-35) Due to the R rating of our film the key demographics will be a mature audience.

TRADITIONAL MEDIA

Poster The movie poster closely resembles the video game covers. This also gives fans a creative freedom to make their own posters, which we will encourage.

Events Our franchise will appear at major events leading up to its release in the summer of 2012. These events will include E3 (Electronic Entertainment Expo) in June of this year to present a teaser trailer and draw interests around the film. We will also make an appearance at Comic Con of this year with Guy Richie, Gerard Butler, Olivia Wilde, and other cast for Q&A and to draw more interest to the film. The follow year (release year) will we attend both these events again showing a drawn out exclusive trailer at comic con right before the films release in August 2012.

Television One of the main channels we will be advertising our film on is Spike, a channel that attracts our major demographic. We will also be advertising on MTV to reach our female demographic. Other possible channels include FX and TNT for the action demo. We will also be partnering with Spike/UFC to buy mat space on UFC Pay-Per-View events and sponsor the fights getting in event pugs and we will also show a trailer in between the fights.

Video Game We will be partnering with Rockstar games to rerelease Grand Theft Auto 3, along with our film. The game will be redone and include multiplayer. We will host special events online with Gerard Butler and cast, where players can play online with the cast and crew of the film.

Club Events We will be hosting multiple Club events around the U.S where people can meet and take pictures with Gerard Butler and Ludacris. GTA shot glasses, beer mugs, T-shirts, coasters will be used and available at the event.

Print We will be partnering with Maxim Magazine to cover the film with Olivia Wilde and Teresa Palmer in an exclusive interview and photoshoot.

Page 8: GTA Proposal (Final)

8

Music Ludacris will write and record a song that will be featured in some of the films trailers.

Product Tie-ins We will be partnering with:

• Rockstar Energy drink to sell a Grand Theft Auto labeled Rockstar. • Harley Davison for a Grand Theft Auto/Harley advertising deal. • 1800 Tequila using 1800"s spokesman/supporting GTA actor Michael Imperioli

NON-TRADITIONAL MEDIA Facebook Game Modeled after the games like College Town and Mafia Wars, we will have a game that allows you to build your own Grand Theft Auto city and share with other users. Twitter We will establish a main twitter for the film that tweets details about upcoming events and release info. The Twitter account will also send out clues to the Hidden Packages Scavenger hunt. Along side the main twitter we will also have separate character twitter accounts. They will tweet just like the actual character in the film would. “Make Your Own Poster” By using the main Grand Theft Auto poster as a template, we will have a section on are website and mobile app that allows fans to replace the images in the original posters with their own pictures. We will then provide a link t allow the users to send their new posters to Facebook, Twitter and other social media sites. Scavenger Hunt Use the new Google maps to add Google places. Take photo"s at iconic, GTAesque spots with memorabilia from the film. Place your picture in the missions part of the GTA app. Hidden packages are located across the US; special limited items can be received when searching area"s like the Brooklyn bridge. Mobile App The mobile app will consist of different sections that relate to the game. For example we will have a link to the Twitter feed of each main character in the film. We will also have a video and photo section that displays different things from the film. We will have a tab that allows you to see info and show times. One of our biggest sections will be a Radio section. It will let users listen to the actual radio stations from the game and the ones used in the film. Finally we will include a Google location app that helps you with the scavenger hunt game that we have set up. Text Service The text service will allow people without a Smartphone to have opportunities to receive downloads. Some examples of downloads would be wallpapers of Gerard Butler, Olivia Wilde, and Teresa Palmer. Also people could download the Ludacris song that will be made for the film. We will advertise this service at the end of the trailer, late-night commercial spots on certain channels like Spike and MTV, and on billboards around town. Billboards in the Game We will have the same billboards that we used for our traditional media billboards inserted into the billboards in the release of Grand Theft Auto.