Hollywood is about to churn out another movie based on a video game, but this one actually seems pretty decent. Sony Pictures Entertainment just dropped the trailer for the Gran Turismo movie and for once, it doesn’t seem to be a live-action version of a game that completely pisses on the source material. Instead, this movie will follow the real-life story of a gamer who became a racer. Check it out!
Studios are taking beloved video games and turn them into television shows and movies; this isn’t anything new, as film adaptations of video games have been around for a while. But there are more of them now and the results have varied wildly. If you’re like me and you grew up playing Halo, you were probably stoked to hear about the show, which aired on Paramount+. Then you watched it and like me, maybe it broke your brain. That isn’t the Halo you or anyone else grew up with. There are 2000s GM products driving around in this show set 500 years in the future. And oh yeah, Master Chief got in bed with the Covenant, literally. On the other end of the spectrum, you have The Super Mario Bros. Movie, which is apparently so good that it has broken a billion dollars and topped the box office for four weekends straight.
Where will Gran Turismo stand? Will it be an embarrassment like Halo, mediocre like Uncharted, or not even really related to the source material like Need for Speed? Or will it just rake in the cash like Super Mario currently is? I’m not sure if Gran Turismo will be that much of a powerhouse, but it doesn’t appear to be running on a flat tire, so to speak.
Right from the jump, I like what I’m seeing here. Gran Turismo launched in December 1997 for the original PlayStation. Since then, there have been seven more main entries, which each raking in millions of copies sold. I got into the series with Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec. That game helped lay the foundation for the car enthusiasm that I have today as an adult. Through GT3, I learned about cars that I never knew existed and maybe I learned a few driving tricks through the game’s notorious driver licensing system. I mean, just take a look:
Another high watermark is Gran Turismo 4, which might have the best opening of any driving game:
If that doesn’t get you in the mood for some hooning, I don’t know what will! But how do you make a movie out of a game that doesn’t have a story? Indeed, if you’ve played these games or even mainline Forza Motorsport games, you know that your mission is to race until there are no more races. I suppose you could just do like the Need for Speed movie did and just invent a story. Or, you can do what this movie is appearing to do and tell a story that involves the game.
Directed by Neill Blomkamp, Gran Turismo tells the story of Jann Mardenborough. Mardenborough is a professional racing driver today, but his career had an interesting start. Twelve years ago, Mardenborough competed in the Gran Turismo Academy, a competition where the best Gran Turismo players race to win a racing career with Nissan. Basically, it turns the best gamers into real racing drivers. GT Academy was created by former Nissan UK marketer Darren Cox. In 2008, the series kicked off and minted its first winner, Lucas Ordóñez of Spain. Between 2010 and until the GT Academy’s ending in 2016, 21 more Gran Turismo players became racing drivers.
In an interview with the Guardian, Mardenborough said that he had been playing Gran Turismo since he was seven. Like a lot of car enthusiasts who play games, he’d play the occasional shooter, but his heart was in racers. Gran Turismo allowed Mardenborough to drive the cars that he thought he’d never get to play with in real life. As his love of Gran Turismo flourished, he eventually built a racing sim rig out of MDF wood, then Gran Turismo Academy happened.
As I said, GT Academy pits the best Gran Turismo racers against each other and the best of the best get to go to a race camp, where they compete with each other in real sports cars. Mardenborough was the third youngest GT Academy winner when, at 19 years old, he beat out a field of 90,000 entrants. Mardenborough found himself behind the wheel with Nissan for the Dubai 24 Hour. He placed third in his class in that race.
Since then, Mardenborough has raced in multiple series from Formula 3 and Super GT to even racing in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. His dream is to race in Formula 1.
This movie is a different one for director Neill Blomkamp. He’s known for directing movies like District 9, Chappie, and Elysium. All of those aren’t even in the same wheelhouse as Gran Turismo. So, this will be interesting to see. Mardenborough will be portrayed by Archie Madekwe (Midsommar), Orlando Bloom will play Darren Cox, David Harbour (Black Widow) will play Jack Salter, Mardenborough’s trainer, Djimon Hounsou (Black Adam, Shazam!) will play Steve Mardenborough, Jann’s father, and Geri Halliwell (Ginger Spice from the Spice Girls) will play Mardenborough’s mother.
Gran Turismo premieres in theaters on August 11. I think you’ll see me there!
(Top Image: Sony Pictures)
Support our mission of championing car culture by becoming an Official Autopian Member.
I love David Harbour. He’s a very talented and versatile actor who desperately needs some quality work.
This could be really good, but only if they include the Gran Turismo series’ most iconic feature: the incredible menu music:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7eBd254E8eE&list=PLO4jlmGoc6uA85BkKmKLtOQH2WcEBpUI-&index=20
Yeah, no…I’ll pass. Especially when one of the no talent spice girls is involved.
Gosh, I remember that program, too. Such a neat idea, but Nissan started de-emphasizing motorsports in favor of IDK, zero-down-payment Rogues or whatever they’re up to now, and eventually ran out of places for its GT Academy winners to race. It went out with a whimper, which still saddens me. It was such a cool idea. Instead of the pricey in-a-kart-since-birth path to pro motorsports, it gave regular folks who got really good at driving games a chance to prove their skills IRL. It was genuinely fascinating to see how everything translated over to real-life driving.
I’m glad to see that’s the story they’re telling in this one. I’m actually sort of excited for it?
Am I the only one who grew up with Night Driver as the definitive racing game? At least until Out Run came out.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AH7iMzEHOxg
Mercedes, you’re too young to know the best racing game intro video of all time:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3yDf8lkGEY
If it wasn’t NFS Hot Pursuit 2, it was NFS Porsche Unleashed.
I can see why people would hate it, but I thought Need For Speed was a fun and enjoyable movie.
This, to me, looks really fucking stupid.
I was surprised at how much I enjoyed Need For Speed. Aaron Paul and Imogen Poots definitely helped. I also agree that this looks pretty dumb. I will also be watching it when it hits streaming if I have time.
Yeah I didn’t go into it with high hopes but I was pleasantly surprised. Aaron Paul makes everything better though.
To be clear, I also enjoyed Need for Speed. My note was more about the fact that Need for Speed was only barely loosely tied to the source material.
That said, after a second thought, I think it can be said that the movie had a better storyline than any of the games!
I mean in my eyes, the Fast and the Furious franchise is essentially the Need for Speed movies if you think about it that way. Cops, modifying cars, a lot of the material is there.
“We’re definitely not seeing your movie, and I know I’m the only one who wants to see ___, and your mother already saw [ ], so how about Mario? Fine.”
A billion dollars of unobjectionable is a long way from “good.”
My wife & kid have seen Mario twice. Both say it’s great.
Name checks out. It’s okay to like good things, you know. 😛
I didn’t mean to suggest it ISN’T good (heck, I enjoyed it too), but box office performance is not a reliable indicator of quality.
I guess I should have given Mercedes the benefit of the doubt for using “apparently.”
Cheerfully withdrawn!
Most unrealistic thing here is the music isn’t elevator jazz.
I would leave the game on at night to help me fall asleep. GT5 had some great classical music.
This comment got me looking at the soundtracks for GT4 & GT5. They were seriously impressive. In addition to all the classical and jazz, there are names like Bootsy Collins, The Roots, Jeff Beck, and Judas Priest!
I hope they work Panama into this somewhere.