The Gran Turismo video game franchise is getting a movie and so far, the release date, cast, story details, trailer, and more, have been shared —here are the latest Gran Turismo movie updates. Gran Turismo is a PlayStation racing simulation video game series developed by Polyphony Digital. After the first game was released in 1997 for the original PlayStation, the franchise proved to be a hit as Polyphony Digital then released seven more games in the main series as well as six secondary ones. Throughout its franchise history, Gran Turismo has remained a staple racing series in video games.
Gran Turismo stands out for how realistic it makes the driving aspects of the game. Every Gran Turismo game has a sizable amount of real-world detail that extends from the huge numbers of cars available to the physics that take into account environmental considerations that would affect an actual driver. There is a large industry that surrounds Gran Turismo and serious players have access to a vast array of kits and racing cockpits to simulate actually driving. It’s this sub-culture of serious players that have informed the movie Gran Turismo. Keep reading to learn everything about the latest Gran Turismo movie updates.
Gran Turismo Latest News
One of the major reasons for Gran Turismo’s success is that the gameplay makes the player feel immersed in the racing world. Gran Turismo has released a movie trailer that gives an inside look at some of the behind-the-scenes moments of the upcoming film and shows the filmmakers are going to retain that feeling of immersion. In the game, the racetracks are realistically lit to mimic whichever location and time of day the player chooses; raindrops splatter on the windshield and CGI simulates life-like interiors. From the look of the trailer, the filmmakers are making a point of ensuring the viewing audience received the same immersion as gamers.
Other Gran Turismo movie updates include first-look images. Courtesy of Empire, these first look images include a glimpse of David Harbour’s (Stranger Things) character Jack Salter, a racing instructor, talking to the aspiring teen driver Jann Mardenborough, played by Archie Madekwe (Midsommar) and is pictured above. The second of the first-look Gran Turismo images gives audiences a taste of the high-octane racing sequences that are sure to come in the Gran Turismo movie. Both first-look images are certainly exciting news for those who are already fans of the Gran Turismo video games and those that are anticipating the upcoming film.
Other Gran Turismo movie updates confirm that a trailer was released at CinemaCon. The Gran Turismo movie is about British competitor Jann (Madekwe) joining the GT Academy, a competition hosted by Nissan to test racing gamers’ skills with real-life cars. While Jack Salter (Harbour) uses his no-nonsense tactics to train at his racing boot camp, Jann finds himself coming out on top, but is looked down upon by the Nissan racers for his gaming origins. Jann must prove himself to everyone, with Salter poignantly reminding him, “If you miss a racing line in a game you can reset. If you miss it in a real race, you could die.”
Gran Turismo Confirmed
Gran Turismo movie updates have proven that it has had a long journey to get to this point. In 2013, it was announced that Fifty Shades of Grey producers Mike De Luca and Dana Brunetti would be attached to an upcoming project. Then in 2015, Joseph Kosinski of Tron: Legacy was attached to direct, but those plans were canceled in 2018. There was no more news until 2022 when Sony and PlayStation confirmed that a new Gran Turismo movie would be moving forward (via Deadline). This news came soon after Uncharted’s release and its success may have been just the push the company needed to go forward with Gran Turismo.
Gran Turismo Release Date
Sony has officially set the release date for Gran Turismo as August 11, 2023. These Gran Turismo movie updates only came a few months after the confirmation of the movie itself implying that production has gone smoothly, and the studio is confident that post-production will wrap up without much trouble. It could also be the case that Gran Turismo was further into its production schedule than expected when the announcement of the film was made in order to avoid a situation of announcing too early (like when Gran Turismo was announced as in the works in 2013).
Gran Turismo Cast
The latest Gran Turismo movie updates luckily include a stellar cast. David Harbour of Stranger Things fame will be leading the cast as the retired driver Jack Salter, who teaches his teenage co-lead to drive. Playing opposite Harbour is Archie Madekwe (Midsommar) as Jann Mardenborough, a real Gran Turismo player turned racecar driver. Djimon Hounsou is set to play Jann’s father, Steve Mardenborough, Geri Halliwell his mother, and Daniel Puig as his brother. Darren Barnet will also play Jann’s unnamed rival, who is threatened by Jann’s success.
Josha Stradowski is set to appear as another rival driver and Thomas Kretschmann has been cast as well. Orlando Bloom is also joining the cast as Danny Moore, a marketing executive whose relationship with Jann is still under wraps. Rounding out the rest of the cast are Maeve Courtier-Lilley, Emelia Hartford, Pepe Barroso, Sang Heon Lee, Max Mundt, Mariano González, Harki Bhambra, Lindsay Pattison, Théo Christine, and Nikhil Parmar, who have all been announced as cast members (as reported by Deadline).
Gran Turismo Story Details
Unlike other recent Sony video game adaptations, the Gran Turismo movie will not be based on the game. Gran Turismo movie updates confirm it will, instead, recount the actual story of Jann Mardenborouogh, the youngest winner of the 2011 GT Academy. Gran Turismo teamed up with the Nissan car company for the highly unusual GT Academy, a real-life camp and competition that gave Gran Turismo players the chance to learn to drive actual racecars (a visceral story as Harbour explains it). The GT Academy closed in 2016, but Jann continues to race.
Gran Turismo will follow the underdog story of the 19-year-old from England, who competes in the 2011 GT Academy despite having no prior racing experience at all. The movie will follow Jann as he makes his way to the GT Academy and eventually to the racetrack, with the help of his mentor and racecar bootcamp coach (played by Harbour). There will be difficulties and challenges in Jann’s way, not just from other drivers but from the surrounding media attention that comes with being the youngest winner in GT Academy history.
Gran Turismo Trailer
The latest Gran Turismo movie updates show a behind-the-scenes trailer was released in early 2023. The trailer flips back and forth between actual movie scenes and Harbour, Bloom, and Madekwe as they talk about what to expect from Neill Blomkamp’s movie releasing August 2023. The trailer shows some exciting car races that include a swooping camera that follows the racers through a lap around a track. The sound, look, and feel of the trailer really do match up with the games, and video game fans should be satisfied with it. Madekwe’s mention of a love story means that the movie won’t solely be about the races.
Another trailer was shown at CinemaCon this year, giving a first look at Madekwe’s Jann and Harbour’s Jack. The trailer has yet to be released to the public, but it goes over the basic story beats of the Gran Turismo movie, from Jann’s entrance into the GT Academy competition to his successes at Jack Salter’s racecar bootcamp. The trailer also explores the new social sphere that Jann will find himself in. The other Nissan drivers don’t take kindly to Jann because of his gamer origins, and Jann must try even harder to prove his worth and skill to those around him.
Other Crew Members On Gran Turismo
Helming Gran Turismo is Neill Blomkamp (District 9, Elysium, Chappie) as director. Blomkamp’s gritty, realistic style is perfect for a biopic sports drama. His tendency to frequently change camera angles and shot compositions in the middle of a scene is absolutely necessary for the film, which will surely see the camera going from the racer’s point-of-view to overhead shots to crowd shots and back all throughout the races. His talents will be important if this movie wants Uncharted’s success. The screenplay is written by Jason Hall (American Sniper) and Will Dunn (Ms. Marvel). Hall and the video game creator, Kazunori Yamauchi, are also executive producing.
