It’s already been 2 months since the first trailer for GTA VI dropped and its release literally broke the Internet, as usual with Rockstar Games. On the studio’s YouTube channel, the video has been viewed more than 175 million times to date and we obviously don’t count all the other channels that have duplicated the trailer. It was also an opportunity to see numerous analysis videos which dissected each plan, each detail to try to extract the maximum amount of information, and YouTube money too. But before this trailer settles things down, there were lots of rumors, leaks too and today, I want to focus on a very very interesting track, in particular the direction that GTA VI could take into its story, and consequently its gameplay and its open world. So, I ask this innocent question: “What if Rockstar Games was inspired by the film The Place beyond the Pines” with Ryan Gosling, Eva Mendes and Bradley Cooper in the lead? At Jeuxactu, we are convinced of this and we will even bring you clues which lead us to believe that Rockstar Games loved the film like us…
THE RUMORS FROM 2015 WERE RIGHT!
This rumor that GTA VI was inspired by The Place beyond the Pines, the film by Derek Cianfrance, is not new. It even appeared last November, just a few weeks before the trailer was released, but at the time, it didn’t have a big impact on the Internet. Very few articles, a few tweets and that’s about it. In fact, it was on Reddit that this rumor appeared and according to certain responses in the forum, it would echo rumors dating from 2015 where it was already said that GTA VI would allow us to follow a duo of characters, a man and a woman played respectively by Ryan Gosling and Eva Mendès, the two protagonists of the film The Place beyond the Pines, who are also husband and wife in real life by the way. We will remember that Rockstar Games is a company that is intimately linked to the world of cinema, and that the two brothers who co-founded the studio, Sam and Dam Houser, grew up with a fascination for storytelling , music and Hollywood cinema. When they were young, they spent hours and hours watching numerous American films which they rented from a video club near their home in London.
It’s no coincidence that Rockstar Games’ games are full of references to American cinema, with characters who are inspired by major films, when they are downright entire sequences of their game which pay homage to other feature films. GTA Vice City is a free adaptation of Scarface, whose main hero Tommy Vercetti was voiced by Ray Liotta. When he died 2 years ago, Rockstar Games paid tribute to him in a message on social networks, recalling in passing that Ray Liotta had been rewarded at the Spike Video Game Awards for the quality of his interpretation, knowing that there were heavyweights at his side like Burt Reynolds, Dennis Hopper or even Danny Trejo. In GTA IV, the Houser brothers decided to choose Nico Bellic as main character, an immigrant from Eastern Europe who decided to go to Liberty City to escape his disastrous past and realize the American dream. A strong character, considered by many to be the best character in the entire GTA saga, and I quite agree, and who was in reality a copy/paste of Sasha, the Bosnian sniper in the film Behind Enemy Lines / En Territoire Ennemi in VF, a very good film where we found Owen Wilson in a role against the grain.
Further proof that Rockstar Games likes its games to be references to cult Hollywood films, there is also the famous mission “Three Leaf Clover†from GTA 5, which is also a copy and paste of the first heist scene from the film Heat by Michael Mann, not to mention the thugs who carried their bags full of dollars across their shoulder. So it is quite obvious that GTA VI will continue to pay homage to cinema American, drawing inspiration from it and placing a few references here and there. And if last November, we could only base ourselves on rumors and what was said about these similarities with the film The Place beyond the Pines, since the trailer arrived, there is no longer any doubt that Derek’s film Cianfrance served as a creative support to create at least the characters of GTA 6. It is enough to see the couple from the film and that of GTA VI side by side to see the similarities, both physical but also ethnic between the characters. Luke Glanton played by Ryan Gosling is a white man, Caucasian type, handsome and in the trailer quite taciturn, just like Jason is in GTA VI. In the trailer, I already said it, but Jason is put in the background, we hear him speaking, the focus is on Lucia.
And precisely, speaking of Lucia, but forgive me, but she looks a lot like Eva Mendes physically speaking, also beyond the ethnicity and that both are of the Latino type. And then the name, in GTA VI, is Lucia, but in the film The Place beyond the Pines, Eva Mendès is called Romnia. Lucia / Romnia. We can go even further in the resemblances. At the end of the GTA IV trailer, we see our duo go to rob a grocery store, wearing a scarf over their noses so as not to be spotted. Well, when we focus on Jason, we see that his scarf is green and that again, we picked up a passage in the film The Place beyond the Pines when Ryan Gosling’s character wears the same thing on him. And then, let’s also remember that one of the favorite activities of GTA’s anti-heroes is heists, that’s good, there will still be some in VI and that’s it. This was also Luke Glanton’s main activity in The Place beyond the Pines, knowing that it is on motocross that he will rob banks. Motocross that we also see in the GTA VI trailer.
But it’s not over, and no, you’ll see. Other rumors suggest that GTA VI would be the first Rockstar Games game to introduce a child into the game, into the adventure, into the story. Not teenagers like Michael’s in GTA V, but a toddler who would actually be Lucia’s baby. A baby who will have an important role if it is not central in the story of GTA VI. This revelation, if it turns out to be true, would constitute a surprising and unprecedented turn for the GTA saga which has never explored the theme of parenthood in such a way direct. It must be said that until now, GTAs have always excluded children, given the themes covered and the gratuitous violence that can sometimes result. But Rockstar’s writing has evolved a lot in recent years and you just have to see how the narration of Red Dead 2 was more mature, better mastered than we can believe in this direction.
Imagine, Lucia, the first playable woman in a GTA and who would also be a young mother, not only could this bring a new and complex dimension to the history of the game, but also, This would make it possible to create an even stronger female character, allowing Rockstar to go further than simply integrating a woman into its game. This would be clever and never seen before.
When we see to what extent a child in danger can generate emotions, I remember the scene in Red Dead 2 where we have to go and save Jack, the John Marston film, I have some still shivers. The alley lit by the lights of the mansion and the moon, the music that starts, the shootout in the mansion which is also a reference to the scene from mansion in Django Unchained. I tell you, we’re going to experience strong emotions in the next GTA 6. If all this is true, Lucia’s baby presents a narrative challenge for Rockstar that could even go further further in the narrative.
There is a theme that often comes up in Rockstar games, notably the two Red Dead Redemptions, it is the notion of legacy. The legacy of Jack Marston in the 1st Red Dead after the death of his father John. We play the epilogue with Jack as a young adult. In Red Dead, the legacy is passed between Arthur Morgan and John Marston, shortly before the former’s death. It’s something that we could do a once again found in this GTA VI, especially if Rockstar Games was also inspired by The Place beyond the Pines, since the film also deals with heritage but over two generations. Where the film is interesting is that it is cut into triptychs. We follow for 1 hour the story of Luke Glanton, the character of Ryan Gosling, then upon his death, we switch to the point of view of Avery Cross, the character of Bradley Cooper, who takes over by in turn facing the main character. Then in the third part of the film, we switch to the children who in turn become the central characters of the film. This was a pretty incredible find and doing it in a video game could be something totally new.
Rockstar Games could well use this system for the open world of GTA VI, which will undoubtedly be a new challenge for sudio. The evolution of the world, of the open world through the narrative, while conveying this message of transmission, of witnessing, is something that could work with this GTA VI. It’s a recurring theme that is never pushed to the end. Why wouldn’t GTA VI allow us to play as Lucia’s son once he reaches adulthood during one part of the adventure? With a city, a world that would have evolved with him. This is an aspect which was proposed in Red Dead 2 with in particular constructions which change during the adventure, trees which are cut down to install dwellings. We could then go further in GTA VI, especially since it is now known that Rockstar has abandoned the development of Bully 2, but that this was done for almost 2 years could have been integrated into GTA VI. Why not? Obviously this is all speculation, but I like the idea. I like the fact that Rockstar pushed its desires and challenges even further. They are the only ones capable of doing this in real life. They have the finances, they have the time and above all, they have the talent…
