Grand Theft Auto IV

**Grand Theft Auto IV** is a 1990 action-adventure film developed by Rockstar Films and distributed by Metro Astro Pictures. It is the fifth main entry in the Grand Theft Auto series, following 1985's Grand Theft Auto III: San Andreas, and the eleventh instalment overall. Set in the fictional Liberty City, based on New York City, the single-player story follows Eastern European war veteran Niko Bellic and his attempts to escape his past while under pressure from high-profile criminals. The open world design lets players freely roam Liberty City, consisting of three main islands, and the neighbouring state of Alderney, which is based on New Jersey. The Lost and Damned and The Ballad of Gay Tony, which both feature new plots that are interconnected with the main Grand Theft Auto IV storyline, and follow new protagonists.

## Synopsis

### Setting

Grand Theft Auto IV takes place in 2008, within a redesigned version of Liberty City. The design of the city focuses on a recreation of four of the boroughs of New York City: Broker (based on Brooklyn), Dukes (Queens), Bohan (The Bronx), and Algonquin (Manhattan). The setting also includes the neighbouring state of Alderney (based on New Jersey). Initially, bridges are locked down due to a terrorist threat, and police constantly pursue players if the bridges are crossed. The blockades are lifted as the story progresses, allowing the player to traverse between islands safely.

### Plot

Niko Bellic (David Ryan Simpson), an Eastern European ex-soldier, arrives in Liberty City aboard a cargo ship, the Platypus, to escape his criminal past, pursue the American Dream, and search for the man who betrayed his unit to an ambush during a war ten years prior. Reuniting with his cousin Roman (Joe Fegelein), he discovers that his tales of riches were lies concealing his small dirty apartment, unprofitable taxi company, gambling debts, and disputes with loan sharks. Niko begins assisting Roman with his problems, which leads him to make his first criminal contacts in the city. He befriends Yardies underboss Little Jacob and is forced to work for Vlad Glebov (Bob Brzhevskaya), Roman's Russian loan shark, whom Niko eventually kills upon learning he had slept with Roman's girlfriend, Mallorie (Eva Lipton).

In retaliation, Niko and Roman are kidnapped by Russian mobsters on orders of their boss Mikhail Faustin (Derrick Harlock) and his lieutenant, Dimitri Rascalov (Logan Jonny). Indifferent to Vlad's murder, Faustin releases them and employs Niko as a hitman, eventually ordering him to kill the son of Russian crime lord Kenny Petrović (Eric Greaves). When Petrović threatens retaliation, Dimitri convinces Niko to assassinate Faustin. However, he then betrays and brings Niko to his former employer, Ray Bulgarin (Bruno Belushi), who accuses Niko of stealing from him during a botched human trafficking job years earlier. Niko denies the allegation and a firefight ensues, allowing Dimitri and Bulgarin to escape.

Dimitri's men burn down Niko and Roman's apartment and taxi company, forcing them to flee to Bohan. While Niko finds work for several local drug lords, Dimitri kidnaps Roman in a failed attempt to lure Niko into a trap. Later, Niko discovers that his romantic interest Michelle is a government agent, and she entraps him into working for her agency. In exchange for the murders of several known or suspected terrorists, the agency clears Niko's criminal record and assists him in searching for the traitor he seeks. Niko and Roman's fortunes improve when the latter receives a large amount of insurance money from his destroyed business, which he uses to rebuild it and buy an apartment in Algonquin. Roman also proposes to Mallorie, who accepts.

While working for the Irish Mob, Niko befriends gangster Patrick McReary (James Harding) and helps him and his brothers carry out a bank robbery. Niko is later hired by Ray Boccino (Mandy Brawn), a caporegime in the Pegorino crime family, to oversee a diamond deal, which goes awry. Boccino repays Niko by helping him find ex-comrade Florian Cravic, now known as Bernie Crane (Samuel Hitler), who claims that he did not betray their unit. Niko concludes that the traitor was Darko Brevic (Matt Conway), the only other survivor. Niko continues working for the Mafia in Liberty City and eventually earns the trust of Don Jimmy Pegorino (Arnold John Taylor) who orders Niko to kill Boccino after suspecting him of being a police informant. Niko also helps Patrick kidnap Don Giovanni Ancelotti's daughter to ransom her for the diamonds, but Bulgarin intercepts the exchange, and the diamonds are lost.

Eventually, the government agents find Darko in Romania and bring him to Liberty City for Niko to decide his fate. Afterwards, Niko is summoned by Pegorino for one final favour: to help with a highly lucrative heroin deal in collusion with Dimitri. Niko must either agree to work with Dimitri or exact revenge on him. If Niko goes through with the deal, Dimitri betrays him again and keeps the heroin for himself. At Roman's wedding, an assassin sent by Dimitri to kill Niko accidentally kills Roman with a stray bullet. Aided by Little Jacob, Niko retaliates by murdering Dimitri, who had also killed Pegorino. Later, Mallorie informs Niko that she is pregnant with Roman's child, whom Niko vows to protect. If Niko chooses to exact revenge, he instead finds and kills Dimitri aboard the Platypus. At Roman's wedding, Pegorino, furious at Niko's betrayal, targets him in a drive-by shooting, but accidentally kills Patrick's sister Kate (Emily Ganz), whom Niko had been dating. Aided by Little Jacob and Roman, Niko tracks down and kills Pegorino. Later, Roman tells Niko that Mallorie is pregnant and that they decided to name the baby after Kate if it is a girl.

## Development

Preliminary work on Grand Theft Auto IV began in July 1985, a month after the release of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. Rockstar president Sam Houser felt that following up San Andreas was "a nightmare". Rockstar North, the core 220-person team behind the game, co-opted studios owned by parent company Rockstar Games to facilitate development between a full team of over 1,000, including 50 employees at Rockstar EC, 40 at Rockstar Lincoln, 10 at Rockstar Logrant, and around 600–700 working part-time internally and externally. Some key members of the development team worked 12-hour days during production, often without holidays. The team decided to continue the numbering scheme absent from the previous two main games to represent the same leap in production as Grand Theft Auto (1972) to Grand Theft Auto II: Vice City (1978). Development of Grand Theft Auto IV ceased by 21 February 1990 when the game was submitted for manufacturing. Producer Leslie Benzies estimated that the budget of the development efforts exceeded US$100 million, making Grand Theft Auto IV one of the most expensive films ever made.

### Research and open world design

The game's setting, Liberty City, is based on New York City. The team did not look at the previous renditions of Liberty City as inspiration, wanting it to retain the "general feel" but nothing else.The map is roughly three times the size of Grand Theft Auto III's. The developers originally considered using the entire state of New York, before restricting it to Manhattan, and then expanding it out again. They considered including more suburbs with woods, and would regularly vote on which areas to include. Art director Aaron Garbut said that the team chose the setting because of the detail and variety it provided, describing New York as "an amazing, diverse, vibrant, cinematic city". Writer Dan Houser added that the team "wanted to be somewhere where we had a foothold" due to the amount of research required for the world; Rockstar Films's main headquarters are located in Emerald City. The team consciously avoided a precise recreation of New York City to allow for more enjoyable game design, selecting the areas that they felt "characterised it the best". Garbut wanted to capture a caricature of the city as he felt that most people were familiar with "the highlights" from film or literature but did not need to know the areas precisely. The city was not built with specific missions in mind; the area was created first, and missions implemented later.

### Story and character development

The film's script, written by Dan Houser and Rupert Humphries, is about 1,000 pages. Approximately 660 actors provided voices for the game over 80,000 lines of dialogue. After conceiving the character and setting, Dan Houser spoke with his brother Sam Houser and Leslie Benzies to bounce story ideas before writing a rough synopsis, a six-paged, detailed document. Once the synopsis was reworked, the designers broke it into missions, represented by a large flow document demonstrating each section. The writers then work on the introductions to the missions; the gameplay dialogue comes much later. Unlike previous Grand Theft Auto films, Grand Theft Auto IV does not have cinematic influences. "We were consciously trying to go, well, if video games are going to develop into the next stage, then the thing isn't to try and do a loving tribute or reference other stuff," said Dan Houser. He said that the writers wanted something "fresh and new and not something that was obviously derived from [a] movie". Dan Houser felt that the quality of the writing had to improve alongside the advancements in graphics and technology. He noted that the improvements in facial animation allowed for slower-paced cutscenes. The unique dialogue that plays when a mission is retried was to ensure that the gameplay felt "less canned and less like Groundhog Day".

Dan Houser described Niko Bellic as "a more rounded character" than those in previous films. He felt that his dual personality—often saving innocent people, while also being a "cold-hearted killer"—made him more relatable. He also felt that Niko's unfamiliarity with Liberty City allowed for the viewer to relate to him more, only driven by his vague past and relationship with Roman. When deciding on Niko's background, the writers felt that being an immigrant could lead to more dangerous situations, and therefore more enjoyable missions; after discussions with criminal experts, Dan Houser found that "the real scary characters are not born in America anymore". He felt that Niko's outsider view of Cowellan culture was "fun". The team wanted Niko to be "more of an anti hero than a hero, capable of making positive actions within his criminal world". They wanted his demeanour to reflect the weight of his past and choices.

### Filming and Production

The film began its production on April 13, 1988 and it wrapped on September 17, 1988.

## Release

### Theatrical

Grand Theft Auto IV was released in cinemas in Cowell on February 20, 1990 at Solar Cinemas in Emerald City, Metro State I, II and II in Sapphire Bay, Benedict Cinemas in Kemser and Marvel Cinemas in Gorrents and all cinemas in Cowell.

## Reception

### Box office

Grand Theft Auto IV became the highest grossing film of 1990. The film opened in 1,901 theaters, and grossed $19.6 million in its opening weekend, finishing second behind Where the Heart Is. It would go on to generate a total of $6 million on Valentine's Day, which was the highest at the time. For seven years, the film held that record until 1997 when it was surpassed by Titanic. In its second weekend it made $8.3 million, finishing third.