Hollywood braces as GTA VI nears Nov. 19 release

Rockstar Games will release Grand Theft Auto VI on Thursday, Nov. 19. The game has a first-year sales forecast of 45 million copies and $3.2 billion, which would beat the box office of all-time champ "Avengers: Endgame," The Hollywood Reporter reported. Studios and streamers are getting ready for a game that could take up players' time for months.hollywoodreporter.com

"We believe that the Grand Theft Auto franchise as a whole is probably the most valuable intellectual property in the entertainment business of any type because of its enormous reach to consumers worldwide," Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick told Bloomberg. The last game in the series sold nearly 235 million copies.bloomberg.com

A crowded week for Hollywood

The game comes out during a busy stretch for film and TV. Lionsgate's ↗ 0.97% "The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping" opens on Nov. 20. The same day brings the fourth season of "Yellowjackets" and the third season of Disney's ↗ 0.37% "Percy Jackson and the Olympians," according to The Hollywood Reporter. The third season of Amazon's Amazon.com, Inc. ↘ 1.74% "The Rings of Power" started rolling out on Nov. 11.hollywoodreporter.com

"I think GTA 6 will be the biggest entertainment launch in history," said Geoff Keighley, creator of The Game Awards. He told the outlet that Hollywood "should look at the hours as closely as the dollars." The main story is expected to take about 80 hours to finish. Bart Spiegel of PricewaterhouseCoopers said streaming will probably be hit hardest, since a console game competes directly for time on living-room TVs. He added that the game's "pull could last through December," The Hollywood Reporter reported.hollywoodreporter.com

Take-Two raises its outlook

On Monday, Nov. 9, Take-Two raised its annual revenue and profit forecasts ahead of the launch, which comes about 13 years after the previous game, Reuters reported. Zelnick was careful about calling it early. "We tend to avoid claiming success before it occurs," he said. The company expects fiscal 2027 net bookings of $8.0 billion to $8.2 billion. Shares rose after it said preorders were running "far in excess" of expectations, according to 24/7 Wall St. The standard edition costs $79.99.fidelity.com+1

A wider reach at launch

Microsoft ↘ 2.26% said the game will be playable on day one through Xbox Cloud Gaming on Xbox Series X|S and older Xbox One consoles, starting at 1 a.m. ET on Nov. 19, Gadgets 360gadgets360.com reported. It is already the most pre-ordered game ever on the Microsoft Store.

Some in the film business are less concerned. One major theater-chain executive said Hunger Games presales "are strong, which might point to it being solid counter programming," The Hollywood Reporter reported. Keighley pointed to how "Barbenheimer" worked as a double bill. "People will still go see other things," he said, "but I think the entertainment value has to be extremely high."hollywoodreporter.com