Finally: Someone made Hamlet in Grand Theft Auto, and it's gonna be in theaters

In news forcing us to deploy the word “machinima” in serious conversation, even though it’s 2024, MUBI announced today that it’s picking up distribution of SXSW winner Grand Theft Hamlet. Directed by Pinny Grylls and Sam Crane, the film is a documentary about two out of-work actors who, during the COVID-19 lockdowns, attempted to stage the entirety of William Shakespeare’s Hamlet in its most natural setting: The incredibly violent world of Grand Theft Auto Online.

Which means, yes, this is a film entirely made up of footage from a video game that originally came out in 2013, in which a number of people earnestly attempt to perform Shakespeare after stumbling onto an outdoor theater somewhere in the game’s hinterlands. Which, if we’re being honest, we are pretty much a million percent into, especially since reviews of the film out of SXSW, where it won the documentary feature jury award, emphasize that the movie is also a fascinating exploration of the dynamics and feelings of the real-world folks involved. (Most especially Crane and Grylls, who are married, and their collaborator Mark Oosterveen.)

The above trailer, posted by the Cambridge Film Festival, where the film will air later this month, helps to highlight the absurd beauty of trying to do something this artistically ambitious in a world where anybody can come by with rocket launchers and vigorously object to your performance; having already liked this idea, we have to admit that we’re now completely sold on it.

We’re especially fascinated to note that MUBI intends to bring this thing to theaters, at least briefly, with a theatrical run scheduled for some time in 2025. The idea of a bunch of people sitting in a darkened theater, eating popcorn, watching Grand Theft Auto footage as people recite Shakespeare to each other, is one that provokes genuine delight in us. (The movie is also coming to streaming, which feels like a more natural fit.)

[via THR]