The eagerly-anticipated movie about a PlayStation gamer turned real-life racecar driver has had its first official trailer drop online.
The first glimpse at the upcoming Gran Turismo movie has been released, with David Harbour (Stranger Things), Orlando Bloom (Lord of the Rings, Pirates of the Caribbean) and Archie Madekwe (See, Midsommar) all featuring prominently in the trailer.
Madekwe portrays a fictionalised version of GT Academy winner Jann Mardenborough. In 2011, the Welshman was avidly playing the Gran Turismo game with no real aim for the future. But then, he qualified for GT Academy and won it. After that he became a Nissan works racing driver, and since went on to score podiums and wins in both sportscars and open wheelers.
That’s now the subject of this feature length film directed by Neill Blomkamp (District 9). The trailer can be seen now!
Details we Noticed
First things first, it’s certainly not an exact telling of Mardenborough’s story. The film version of Mardenborough is seen at the start of the trailer driving on what racing game fans can unmistakably identify as Gran Turismo 7.
GT Academy originally was held on Gran Turismo 5: Prologue which released in 2007. GT7 released only last year, so it’s certainly taking some creative liberties.
But that’s not a hugely significant gripe, just a detail. What matters is that this movie accurately depicts the journey of a gamer becoming a racing driver. The trailer certainly captures that brilliantly.
Harbour’s character is a seasoned racing driver named Jack Salter, and he’s unconvinced by the concept. But he’s ultimately won over by Bloom’s character Danny Moore, a motorsport marketing executive who is the founder of GT Academy. Also somewhat reluctant of the idea is Jann’s father, portrayed by Djimon Hounsou (Guardians of the Galaxy).
Already from the trailer, the camera angles are incredible. Director Neill Blomkamp was quoted in an interview on PlayStation Blog that he was obsessive in attempting to recreate camera angles from the game.
Between that car and the drone work, you already have some cool dynamic angles. But, I was also obsessed with recreating camera angles players know from the game: so, for the third-person chase perspective, we built an R1 rig that could position a camera such that the entire car would fit within the frame.
To capture the driver’s POV (cockpit view), our stunt driver would lie back so we could mount a camera where his head should be. We liked including nods to the game in these kinds of ways.
Gran Turismo will release 11 August 2023.
What did you think of the Gran Turismo movie trailer? Tell us on Twitter at @OverTake_gg or in the comments down below!
