It’s been 2 months since the first trailer of GTA VI dropped and its release literally broke the internet, as always with Rockstar Games. On the studio’s YouTube channel, the video has been viewed over 175 million times to date, and we’re not counting all the other channels that have apparently duplicated the trailer. There was also the opportunity to watch countless analysis videos that dissected every plan, trying to get the most information out of every detail, and there was YouTube money, too. But before this trailer settles things, there were a lot of rumours, even leaks, and today, I want to focus on a very interesting track, specifically the direction that GTA VI could take in its story, and consequently its gameplay and its open world So, I ask this innocent question: “What if Rockstar Games was inspired by the movie The Place Beyond the Pines starring Ryan Gosling, Eva Mendes and Bradley Cooper? At Jeuxactu, we’re sure of it and we’ll even bring you clues that make us believe that Rockstar Games loved the movie as much as we do…
The 2015 rumors were true!
The rumor that GTA VI is inspired by The Place Beyond the Pines, a film by Derek Cianfrance, is not new. It also appeared last November, a few weeks before the trailer was released, but at the time, it didn’t make a big impact on the internet. A few articles, a few tweets and that’s about it. In fact, the rumor itself appeared on Reddit and according to some responses in the forum, it would echo rumors dating back to 2015 where it was already said that GTA VI would allow us to follow a pair of characters, one male and one female. The two protagonists of The Place Beyond the Pines are played by Ryan Gosling and Eva Mendes, respectively, who are also husband and wife in real life. We will remember that Rockstar Games is a company that is intimately connected to the world. About cinema, and the two brothers who co-founded the studio, Sam and Dame Houser, grew up with a fascination for storytelling, music and Hollywood cinema. When he was young, he would spend hours watching countless American films rented from a video club near his home in London.
It’s no coincidence that Rockstar Games’ games are full of references to American cinema, with characters inspired by major films, while they have entire sequences in their games that pay homage to other feature films. GTA Vice City is a free adaptation. Scarface, whose protagonist Tommy Vercetti was voiced by Ray Liotta. When he died 2 years ago, Rockstar Games paid tribute to him in a message on the social network, recalling that Ray Liotta was awarded at the Spike Video Game Awards for the quality of his interpretation, knowing that he had heavyweights by his side. Like Burt Reynolds, Dennis Hopper or even Danny Trejo. In GTA IV, the Houser brothers decided to cast Niko Bellic as the main character, an immigrant from Eastern Europe who decides to escape from his disastrous past and move to Liberty City to realize the American dream. A strong character, considered by many to be the best character in the entire GTA saga, and I totally agree, and who was actually a copy/paste of Sasha, the Bosnian sniper in the movie Behind Enemy Lines / En Territoire Ennemi in VF, a very good movie. Where we find Owen Wilson in a role that goes against the grain.
Further proof that Rockstar Games likes its games to reference cult Hollywood films, GTA 5’s famous mission “Three Leaf Clover” is also a copy and paste of Michael’s first heist scene from the film Heat. Mann, not to mention thugs who carried their bags full of dollars on their shoulders. So it’s clear that GTA VI will continue to pay homage to American cinema, taking inspiration from it and dropping a few references here and there. And if last November, we can only rely on rumors and what was said about these similarities with the film The Place Beyond the Pines, because since the trailer came out, there is now no doubt that Derek’s film Cianfrance served as creative support. At least the characters from GTA 6. It is enough to look at the film and GTA VI couple side by side to see the physical and even racial similarities between the characters. Luke Glanton played by Ryan Gosling is a white man, Caucasian type, handsome and quite calm in the trailer, just like Jason is in GTA VI. In the trailer, as I already said, but Jason is placed in the background, we hear him speak, the focus is on Lucia.
And definitely, speaking of Lucia, but excuse me, but she physically resembles Eva Mendes, beyond ethnicity, and they’re both Latinos. And then in GTA VI her name is Lucia, but in the movie The Place Beyond the Pines, Eva Mendes is called Romania. Lucia / Romania. We can go even further in analogy. At the end of GTA IV’s trailer, we see our pair robbing a grocery store wearing scarves over their noses to avoid being seen. Well, when we focus on Jason, we see that his scarf is green and again, we pick up a passage from the movie The Place Beyond the Pines when Ryan Gosling’s character wears the same thing on him. And then, let’s remember that too. One of the favorite activities of GTA’s anti-hero is heist, that’s fine, VI will still have some and that’s it. This was also Luke Glenton’s main activity in The Place Beyond the Pines, knowing whether he was on motocross or robbing banks. Motocross which we also see in the GTA VI trailer.
But it’s not over, and no, you’ll see. Other rumors suggest that GTA VI will be the first Rockstar Games game to introduce a child into the game, into the adventure, into the story. Not teenagers like Michael in GTA V, but a toddler who would actually be Lucia’s child. A child who would have an important role if not central to GTA VI’s story. This revelation, if proven true, would constitute a surprising and unprecedented turn for the GTA saga which has never explored the theme of fatherhood in such a straightforward manner. It must be said that until now, GTA has always excluded children, with the themes covered and the gratuitous violence that can sometimes result. But Rockstar’s writing has evolved a lot in recent years and you only have to look at how the narrative of Red Dead 2 was more mature, better mastered than we could have believed in this direction.
Imagine, Lucia, the first playable woman in GTA and who will also be a young mother, can not only bring a new and complex dimension to the history of this game, but also make it possible to strengthen. A female character allows Rockstar to go further than just integrating a woman into its game. This would be clever and never seen before.
When we see the extent to which a child in danger can evoke emotions, I am reminded of the scene in Red Dead 2 where we have to go and save Jack, the John Marston film, I still get some chills. The mansion and the moonlit street, the music that starts, the shootout in the mansion which is also a reference to the mansion scene in Django Unchained. I tell you, we are going to experience strong emotions in the upcoming GTA 6. If all of this is true, Lucia’s child presents a narrative challenge for Rockstar that may even go further into the story.
One theme that comes up often in Rockstar games, especially the two Red Dead Redemption games, is the notion of legacy. Jack Marston’s legacy in the 1st Red Dead after his father John’s death. We play the epilogue with Jack as a young adult. In Red Dead, an inheritance passes between Arthur Morgan and John Marston, shortly before the former’s death. It is something that we can find once again in this GTA VI, especially if Rockstar Games was also inspired by The Place Beyond the Pines, because the film is also related to the heritage but more than two generations. Where the film is interesting is that it is cut into triptychs. We follow the story of Luke Glenton, Ryan Gosling’s character, for 1 hour, then after his death, we switch to the point of view of Bradley Cooper’s character, Avery Cross, who confronts the main character. Then in the third part of the film, we go to the children who in turn become the central characters of the film. This was a pretty incredible invention and doing it in a video game could be something totally new.
Rockstar Games could well use this system for GTA VI’s open world, which will undoubtedly be a new challenge for Sudio. This could work with GTA VI while conveying this message of witnessing the evolution of the world, through an open-world story. It is a recurring theme that is never pushed to the end. Why doesn’t GTA VI allow us to play as Lucia’s son when he reaches adulthood during part of the adventure? With a city, a world that would have evolved with it. This is an aspect that was proposed in Red Dead 2 with special structures that change during the adventure, trees that are cut down to establish habitats. We can then go further into GTA VI, especially since it is now known that Rockstar abandoned the development of Bully 2, but this could have been integrated into GTA VI if it had been done for almost 2 years. Why not? Obviously this is all speculation, but I like the idea. I love the fact that Rockstar pushed his aspirations and challenges further. Only they are able to do this in real life. They have money, they have time and most of all, they have talent…
