Grand Theft Hamlet — An Experiment That Made It to Cinemas

Four years ago, in January 2021, during the third lockdown in the UK due to the pandemic, two unemployed actors — family man Sam and loner Mark — dove deeper into the world of GTA Online. One day, while at the Vinewood Bowl amphitheater, they came up with the idea to stage the immortal theatrical classic, Hamlet by William Shakespeare. Of course, this was to be done in an open session, performed in front of an audience made up of griefers, trolls, and the usual eclectic GTA Online crowd. The entire process was filmed and later edited into an unusual feature-length film, running for nearly an hour and a half (89 minutes), titled Grand Theft Hamlet. Last year, the film, written and directed by Pinny Grylls and Sam Crane, who also played one of the leading roles, was released and achieved success. Its world premiere took place in March at the SXSW Film Festival. The movie was then shown at other similar events in London, Vancouver, and beyond, where the creators even received awards for their work. Critics gave it positive reviews. All this information can be found on the creators’ official website and on MUBI.com. In the British Isles, Grand Theft Hamlet began screening in cinemas on December 6, and in the U.S., it will debut this coming Friday, January 17. There are also plans to add the movie to streaming platforms, although no specifics have been announced yet. The wait for its wider release seems worth it — on IMDb, the film has a rating of 7.4 out of 10, based on 245 reviews.