Gran Turismo[a] is a 2023 American biographical sports drama film directed by Neill Blomkamp from a screenplay by Jason Hall and Zach Baylin.
Produced by Columbia Pictures, PlayStation Productions, and 2.0 Entertainment, it is based on the sim racing video game series developed by Polyphony Digital.
The film stars Archie Madekwe as Mardenborough, alongside David Harbour, Orlando Bloom, Darren Barnet, Geri Halliwell Horner, and Djimon Hounsou.
[5] Development of a film based on Gran Turismo was revealed in July 2013, with Michael De Luca and Dana Brunetti producing and Alex Tse writing the script.
As punishment, Jann is taken to his father's workplace but leaves early to participate in the qualifying race, which he wins, securing a spot in the GT Academy.
In July 2013, it was announced that Sony Pictures was developing a Gran Turismo film with Michael De Luca and Dana Brunetti producing it[6] and a script by Alex Tse.
[10] In May 2022, it was announced that a film adaptation of Polyphony Digital's Gran Turismo video games was in early development at Sony Pictures and PlayStation Productions.
Shortly afterward, Neill Blomkamp was hired to direct a screenplay written by Jason Hall, and Sony set a release date of August 11, 2023.
[15][16] Max Mundt, Mariano González, Harki Bhambra, Lindsay Pattison, Théo Christine, and Nikhil Parmar were added to the cast in December 2022.
[26] An update to Gran Turismo 7 added a livery for the 2018 Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 that was inspired by the film, and was given for free to all players who watched the movie trailer in-game.
[3][4] In the United States and Canada, Gran Turismo was released alongside The Hill, Retribution, and Golda, and was projected to gross $12–15 million from 3,856 theaters in its opening weekend.
The website's consensus reads: "Gran Turismo's brisk action and feel-good underdog drama are undermined by its loose telling of the fact-based story, but this is still a generally solid racing movie.
[49] Owen Gleiberman of Variety said of the film: "There's an innocence to this one, and a surprise authenticity," commenting, "It's like a Fast and Furious movie made without cynicism, and it gets to you", finding the climax "satisfying".
[50] Kristen Lopez of TheWrap said: "Gran Turismo works best because it eschews its video game origins quickly before settling into a standard race car film.
"[51] Conversely, Ryan Gilbey's negative review for the Guardian called the film "a simulation of cinema, with scarcely a human fingerprint anywhere on its chassis.
[53] Oli Welsh of Polygon gave the film a negative review, saying that "Gran Turismo could have used this inspiring true story to show how video games open up possibilities and remove barriers in the real world.
This segment faithfully re-enacted a 2015 crash during which his Nissan GT-R Nismo became airborne at the notorious Flugplatz turn and cartwheeled over the fence into spectators.
[56][57] This crash was depicted in Gran Turismo as a traumatic event for Mardenborough that impacted his racing performance during his debut at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.