Vince Gilligan responds to ‘Pluribus’ ‘Grand Theft Auto’ fan theory
“I really don’t know that I’ve heard any interpretation where I’ve said, ‘That’s wrong!’”
by Ali Shutler · NMEBreaking Bad’s Vince Gilligan has responded to a fan theory comparing his new show Pluribus to a Grand Theft Auto game.
Pluribus follows Carol (Rhea Seehorn) in the immediate aftermath of an alien invasion which has transformed almost every living human into part of a hive mind.
The dark sci-fi show has inspired plenty of fan theories about the origin of the hive mind, why a handful of people weren’t affected and if it’s possible to reverse the invasion. In a new interview with Dexerto, Gilligan said: “ I don’t think there really are any misconceptions. The thing I care most about is people watch it and enjoy it and it makes them think. The highest compliment of all is if people rewatch something that we’ve made… I really don’t know that I’ve heard any interpretation where I’ve said, ‘That’s wrong’.”
Executive producer Gordon Smith then revealed one fan theory that compared Pluribus to a live-action take on Grand Theft Auto, with Carol as the player character. In episode four of Pluribus, Carol trades her broken car for a brand new police car, which fans on Reddit have called a “classic GTA experience”.
“That’s so cool that they have a way of thinking about this in terms of indulging in the world and playing the world in a certain way,” added Smith.
“I guess that’s true,” added Gilligan. “You drive because the cops are trying to get you in Grand Theft Auto and you just do whatever you want.”
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“Honestly… that’s a solid comparison,” wrote one fan. “It’s a bit of a stretch but I can see some similarities,” added another. ‘He’s clearly never played Grand Theft Auto,” said a third.
However Pluribus might be the closest we get to a live-action adaptation of Grand Theft Auto.
In 2022, it was reported that Rockstar Games had previously turned down the opportunity to create a Grand Theft Auto film with Eminem and last year, Rockstar Games’ co-founder and former head writer Dan Houser claimed that the team were always against a movie adaptation. “We had what we considered to be multi billion dollar IP, and the risk never made sense. In those days, the perception was that games made poor-quality movies,” he explained.
Earlier this year, fans were fooled by a fake movie announcement that went viral on X.
In other news, Daniel Vávra, the creator of Kingdom Come: Deliverance, has dismissed the fierce debate about AI in video games as “hysteria”.