Rockstar Games’ parent company Take-Two Interactive has thrown a wrench into BBC’s plans to make Game Changer a 90-minute TV movie about the Grand Theft Auto developer. This week, Take-Two announced that it has filed a lawsuit against the British media company to halt production on Game Changer.

The feature would be a dramatization of the conflicts between Rockstar President Sam Houser, who would be portrayed by Harry Potter actor Daniel Radcliffe, and American anti-game violence lawyer Jack Thompson, who would be portrayed by Bill Paxton.

Thompson led a very public charge against violence and sexuality in video games around 10 years ago, most notably after the infamous “Hot Coffee” incident in GTA: San Andreas, where modders discovered game assets tucked away for a scrapped sex minigame.

“Take-Two Interactive has filed suit against the BBC for trademark infringement based on their movie currently titled ‘Game Changer’ as it relates to Rockstar Games’ Grand Theft Auto video game series,” Take-Two said in a statement to IGN.

“While holders of the trademarks referenced in the film title and its promotion, Rockstar Games has had no involvement with this project. Our goal is to ensure that our trademarks are not misused in the BBC’s pursuit of an unofficial depiction of purported events related to Rockstar Games. We have attempted multiple times to resolve this matter with the BBC without any meaningful resolution. It is our obligation to protect our intellectual property and unfortunately in this case litigation was necessary.”

It is unclear what exactly Take-Two hopes to accomplish with its lawsuit. Aside from preventing BBC from using certain trademarked logos or game assets, there is little the publisher can really do to prevent the film from being made.

If Konami Corp’s recent decisions to use copyright law to remove critical YouTube videos are any indication, Take-Two may only succeed in ensuring that more people will see Game Changer than would have in the first place.

Image credit: Rockstar Games Inc