Take Two Trademarks “Rockstar Films”

[Mave]

On the 21th December, 2010, Take-Two Interactive, parent company of Rockstar games, filed for the trademark 'Rockstar Films'. On June 14th, 2011, the trademark was confirmed as 'Publication/Issue date complete'. There is little information on quite what the trademark is for, but the correspondent gives a brief summary:

Animated motion picture films featuring entertainment, namely, action, adventure, dramatic, comedic, children's and documentary themes; pre-recorded video discs and other pre-recorded digital and electronic media in the field of live action programs, motion pictures, or animation featuring entertainment, namely, action, adventure, dramatic, comedic, children's and documentary themes

So, it's clear that Take-Two have the intention of moving into film with Rockstar; but let's go further. For all our rabid searching, we found only one reference to a 'Rockstar Films'.

Rockstar Films LLC.

They are located in New York, like Rockstar Games, which may lead you to think Take-Two opened a Rockstar Films LLC company, trademarked it, and just kept it a bit silent. No big deal, right?

Oh, but we're not stopping there. The rabbit hole goes much deeper, involving mystery, intrigue, and murder. Alright, not murder, but still; isn't this exciting?

Take a gander at Rockstar Films LLC's WhoIs domain owner.

status: CLIENT-TRANSFER-PROHIBITED
registrant-firstname: Rudy
registrant-lastname: Callegari
registrant-organization: bright pictures

That doesn't seem to relate to Take-Two in any way, shape, or form. But you know what is owned by Take-Two?

RockStarFilms.com
RockStarFilms.net

Registrant:
Rockstar Games
622 Broadway
New York, NY 10012
US

Let's untangle this for a second; Rockstar Films LLC appears to have absolutely nothing to do with Rockstar Games or Take-Two - different locations, domains, and even owners (Willaim Harris owns Rockstar Films LLC, but doesn't show up as an employee of Rockstar Games or Take-Two). So, forget all about that. However, Rockstar Films (without an LLC on the end) is a trademark owned by Take-Two and has a domain owned by Rockstar Games.

Why would Take-Two put in place plans for a Rockstar Films studio, but not tell anyone? Why is it such a secret? Well, maybe it has something to do with Grand Theft Auto.

"If we were to attempt to make a movie [of GTA], we would like to make it ourselves."

The words of Dan Houser, speaking to The Hollywood Reporter. We all know how well received a GTA film would be, and it would be crazy for Rockstar not to capitalize on such a revered series, while also flexing their artistic muscles elsewhere; Rockstar Games were "executive producers" on two films in 2004 and 2005, so they've dipped their toes in the water.

It seems incredibly likely that they would take to plunge.

As ever, SystemLink will try its hardest to discover more on this topic; keep updated via our Twitter.

Source: http://alt.systemlink.me/2011/07/take-two-file-rockstar-films-trademark.html

 

[Fries]

I believe they were truly impressed at the work of the French director in the GTA movie Trashmaster. Maybe they would like to do a GTA movie as well, except make it live action?

 

[Vodkush]

My guess is small snippits for teasers, or even an online mini series leading up to the release of GTA V. Some kind of back story I would guess for the main character or a link between each character in the GTA series.