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Certain films are so close to being good, so close to achieving a rare level of brilliance, your anger springs from said work not reaching those heights. Director Neill Blomkamp ’s “Gran Turismo,” a crowd-pleasing, genre-bending sports drama, approaches wonder with an odd tepidness; it maneuvers around any modicum of character development by taking all-too simple routes and swerves away from formal experimentation, opting instead for simple enjoyment.

And yet, I can’t say I wasn’t invested in every race, lap, and turn. Nor can I say the climax didn’t successfully tug my heart toward an emotional response as the intrepid Jann Mardenborough ( Archie Madekwe ), a teenager who rose from gamer to real-life car racer, passed the finish line.

“Gran Turismo” is an uncommon yet familiar biopic, a video game-inspired narrative with unique strengths and recurrent weaknesses. For one, as Mardenborough likes to say, the property the film takes inspiration from isn’t a game; it’s a simulator. Players can customize vehicles to startling specific details through a seemingly infinite library of parts to imitate a range of makes and models that rival professional drivers (Blomkamp attempts to visualize such realism by having transparent VFX cars envelop Mardenborough whenever he plays).

Marketing extraordinaire Danny Moore ( Orlando Bloom ) knows the potentiality of such skill: He goes to GT proposing a competition in which the top seven gamers will train to become an actual racer for the Nissan team. He also recruits seasoned veteran crew chief and former driver Jack Salter ( David Harbour ) as a trainer. Moore’s venture brings heavy risk. And yet, when Jack asks Moore what the marketer gets out of this, Moore doesn’t have an answer. Despite Bloom’s inspired take, the wobbly, incomprehensible motivations of Moore only offer frustration.

Mardenborough’s desires are clearer cut: He wants to work on real cars. His father, Steve ( Djimon Hounsou ), a former professional footballer presently relegated to menial jobs, wants his son to be practical, lest he end up like his old man, filled with broken dreams. We don’t get much screen time or interiority from any Mardenborough family member. He has a doting, understanding mother ( Geri Halliwell ) and a partying immature brother ( Daniel Puig ), but they only fulfill the basic duty of filling out morsels of screen time. At a party, Mardenborough meets Audrey ( Maeve Courtier-Lilley ), whom he’ll keep up vicariously via Instagram. It’s disappointing that she never evolves narratively beyond being the dream girl on Mardenborough’s screen.

The young gamers turned drivers in the GT Academy are similarly thinly sketched. They’re inchoate obstacles who, once again, merely round out the biopic’s run time. The Academy's more pressing narrative function is to serve as a site for Mardenborough and Jack’s budding rapport. The latter is skeptical that these keyboard warriors possess the physical and competitive acumen to become professionals. Jason Hall and Zach Baylin ’s script plays an exhausting game of keep-away about Jack’s tragic backstory (are we supposed to believe that Mardenborough, a perpetually online teenager, didn’t Google his trainer?).

“Gran Turismo” doesn’t really kick into gear until Mardenborough moves past the Academy to real racing, where he competes against teams hostile to simulator racers. It’s difficult not to hear characters say that sim drivers will never replace real drivers without thinking about the real-life struggle SAG-AFTRA and WGA face against AI, even if Mardenborough is a real person. Blomkamp portrays people like Mardenborough as plucky outsiders, not unlike the bobsledders in “ Cool Runnings .” The film’s use of common sports movie tropes unexpectedly aligning with real-world concerns makes for uneasy tension.

Those tropes keep the viewer engaged even when the on-screen storytelling doesn’t wholly deserve it. While you’d expect editors Colby Parker, Jr. and Austyn Daines , along with cinematographer Jacques Jouffret , to match real gameplay rhythms and virtual visuals, the freeze frames that tell viewers what lap we’re on crush the pace, and the information provided is often repetitive to the dialogue.

Even so, tropes are tropes because they work. For Mardenborough and Jack, it’s us against the world. A rivalry between Mardenborough and an ultra-rich racing team adds a dash of tension; a tragic crash gives Mardenborough a comeback story; a harrowing speech by the ever-dependable Hounsou puts the finishing touches on this underdog story and fully invests the viewer in the cares of an unassuming teenager. While "Gran Turismo" has greater issues than what’s outlined here, some nitpicky, others larger in scope—Madekwe as a lead is low-key to the point of invisibility—Blomkamp furnishes just enough cautionary thrills.

In theaters Friday, August 25th.

Robert Daniels

Robert Daniels is an Associate Editor at RogerEbert.com. Based in Chicago, he is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association (CFCA) and Critics Choice Association (CCA) and regularly contributes to the New York Times , IndieWire , and Screen Daily . He has covered film festivals ranging from Cannes to Sundance to Toronto. He has also written for the Criterion Collection, the Los Angeles Times , and Rolling Stone about Black American pop culture and issues of representation.

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Film credits.

Gran Turismo (2023)

Rated PG-13 for intense action and some strong language.

135 minutes

Archie Madekwe as Jann Mardenborough

David Harbour as Jack Salter

Orlando Bloom as Danny Moore

Darren Barnet as Matty Davis

Geri Halliwell as Lesley Mardenborough

Djimon Hounsou as Steve Mardenborough

Josha Stradowski as Nicholas Capa

Daniel Puig

Thomas Kretschmann

Maeve Courtier-Lilley

Emelia Hartford

Neill Blomkamp

Writer (story by)

Zach Baylin

Cinematographer

Jacques Jouffret
Colby Parker Jr.
Lorne Balfe
Andrew Kawczynski

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Gran Turismo: Based on a True Story

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Watch Gran Turismo: Based on a True Story with a subscription on Netflix, rent on Fandango at Home, Prime Video, Apple TV, or buy on Fandango at Home, Prime Video, Apple TV.

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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.

If you're a racing fan or you've had fun playing the Gran Turismo games, then this entertaining underdog story is a must-watch movie.

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Cast & crew.

Neill Blomkamp

David Harbour

Jack Salter

Orlando Bloom

Danny Moore

Archie Madekwe

Jann Mardenborough

Darren Barnet

Matty Davis

Geri Halliwell

Lesley Mardenborough

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Gran turismo.

Gran Turismo is based on the unbelievable true story of a team of unlikely underdogs – a struggling working-class gamer (Archie Madekwe), a failed former racecar driver (David Harbour), and an idealistic motorsport executive (Orlando Bloom). Together, they risk it all to take on the most elite sport in the world. Gran Turismo is an inspiring, thrilling, and action-packed story that proves that nothing is impossible when you’re fueled from within.

DIRECTED BY

Neill Blomkamp

SCREENPLAY BY

Jason Hall and Zach Baylin

Jason Hall and Alex Tse

Gran Turismo is a trademark of Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc.

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Gran Turismo: Based on a True Story

Cast & crew.

David Harbour

Jack Salter

Orlando Bloom

Danny Moore

Archie Madekwe

Jann Mardenborough

Darren Barnet

Matty Davis

Geri Halliwell

Lesley Mardenborough

Intense crashes in exhilarating game-based racing flick.

Average 6.1
Reviews 228

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Gran Turismo movie’s new trailer takes us further into its real-life story

Meet Jann Mardenborough, whose racing career really did begin with the video game

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Gran Turismo is the next PlayStation prestige franchise to get the cinematic treatment (and after years of talking about it , as was also the case with 2022’s Uncharted ). On Tuesday, Sony Pictures gave fans another look at what’s coming with a new trailer.

Tuesday’s trailer expands on the film’s story following a minute-long teaser Sony showed during CES 2023 back in January. Gran Turismo , directed by Neill Blomkamp ( District 9 ) will be based on the story of real-life driver Jann Mardenborough , a British professional racing driver whose 12-year career has taken him to the 24 Hours of Le Mans and Japan’s Super GT series.

Mardenborough’s career began in 2011 at the Gran Turismo Academy, a PlayStation 3 competition where he beat more than 90,000 entrants to win a seat with Nissan in the Dubai 24 Hour. Despite no serious real-life motorsports experience, Mardenborough placed third in his class at the endurance event.

So Gran Turismo will tell a classic, phenom-outta-nowhere sports story, albeit one who discovers his amazing talent thanks to a video game. So it’s somewhat like The Last Starfighter , except for cars and not Gunstars .

Archie Madekwe will star as Mardenborough, with Geri Halliwell Horner — also known as Ginger Spice, and wife of Formula 1 Red Bull Racing team principal Christian Horner — as his mother, Lesley Mardenborough. Djimon Hounsou headlines the cast as Mardenborough’s father, Steve, an English footballer of some renown during the 1980s and 1990s. David Harbour and Orlando Bloom also star.

Gran Turismo will premiere in theaters on Aug. 11.

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Sony’s Gran Turismo film hits theaters in August 2023

It debuts august 11th, 2023, according to deadline.

By Jay Peters , a news editor who writes about technology, video games, and virtual worlds. He’s submitted several accepted emoji proposals to the Unicode Consortium.

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An image showing a vehicle in Gran Turismo 7

Sony’s upcoming Gran Turismo film is apparently hitting theaters sooner than we might have expected — its scheduled for release on August 11th, 2023, according to a new report from Deadline . Neill Blomkamp is set to direct the movie, which is supposed to be based on a true story.

Seriously. Here’s the official logline (aka short summary) of the movie, per Deadline : “Based on a true story, the film is the ultimate wish fulfillment tale of a teenage Gran Turismo player whose gaming skills won a series of Nissan competitions to become an actual professional race car driver.” That means the film likely pulls from the story of someone from the GT Academy , which let Gran Turismo pros compete to join a real-life racing team sponsored by Nissan from 2008 until its last iteration in 2016. Deadline’s report doesn’t include casting details.

PlayStation is going all in on film and TV adaptations

The movie is just one of many adaptations of PlayStation games in the works for the big and small screen. Inklings of the Gran Turismo movie first hit last month alongside news that a Horizon Zero Dawn Netflix series was in development . Will Arnett will play Sweet Tooth in the Twisted Metal show headed to Peacock . Filming on HBO’s The Last of Us show wrapped last week , though that show won’t be released this year . Sony announced a Ghost of Tsushima movie last year and is reportedly working on a God of War TV show with Amazon .

That might feel like a lot of video game adaptations, but some recent films based on gaming franchises have been big hits, which could indicate Sony’s strategy will pay off. Sega and Paramount’s Sonic the Hedgehog 2 surpassed the original at the box office , while Sony struck gold with its Uncharted movie released this year despite mixed reviews ( including from The Verge ).

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Gran Turismo film review — an impressive sensory experience

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Leslie Felperin

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Although it doesn’t achieve the same meta self-awareness of, say, Barbie , the console game/intellectual property-to-film exercise Gran Turismo is next-level brand-management. Just like in real racing, where sponsors are splattered across the surface of every automobile, helmet and wall, there’s barely a moment when a logo isn’t visible on screen, especially those of PlayStation and Sony. This is an overload of synergistic promotion.

As the film keeps reminding us, it’s based on actual events, although a cursory internet search will reveal that the script has played fast and loose with historical details. Cardiff-based teenager Jann Mardenborough (incarnated here with ingenuous sweetness by Archie Madekwe) did indeed go from being a bedroom-based gamer, besotted with PlayStation’s racing simulator Gran Turismo , into a real-world racing driver.

PlayStation’s filmmaking division turns his story into something resembling a game narrative. The movie’s glamorised version of Jann is that of a classic gawky underdog with daddy issues, who grows as he ascends competitive levels. The track is prepared for him by coach/engineer Jack (David Harbour), a gruff former racer haunted by his own past mistakes — a character one suspects is largely a composite of supporting character tropes.

Also lending key assistance is marketing exec Danny (Orlando Bloom), who persuades Nissan that hosting an academy to turn gamers into racers is a good idea rather than a liability nightmare. Who knows, maybe the sequel will tell the story of the heroic actuaries and lawyers who tackled the mountain of paperwork in order to insure risks for these amateur-turned-pro drivers . . .

Director Neill Blomkamp ( District 9 , Elysium ) and his team are proficient at using graphics and CGI to show how Jann is doing in each race, while quick cuts show the engine working, drivers’ teeth gritting and crowds roaring as the tension ratchets up. The storytelling may be cut-and-paste hero’s journey, but as a sensory experience it’s reasonably impressive — a sound and vision extravaganza that puts you in the driver’s seat, just like the game itself.

In cinemas from August 11 in the UK and August 25 in the US

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Gran turismo ending explained.

Gran Turismo tells the incredible true story of Jann Mardenborough’s journey from GT player to motorsport racer; here is the film’s ending explained.

Warning! This article contains spoilers for Gran Turismo.

Gran Turismo tells the incredible true story of Jann Mardenborough's journey from gamer to professional racer, culminating in his race at the prestigious 24 Hours of Le Mans.
The film emphasizes Jann's positioning in the race, with his team needing to finish in the top three to prove their worth and overcome the doubters of the GT Academy project.
Gran Turismo simplifies the details of the Le Mans race for the audience but accurately depicts Jann's podium finish and his team's success within their class.

Gran Turismo is the incredible true story of Jann Mardenborough's journey from a player of the titular game to a professional motorsport racer and here is everything you need to know about the film's ending. The film begins with Orlando Bloom's Danny Moore, a marketing executive at Nissan, pitching an idea to the heads of the company. Moore's idea centered around reinvigorating the love of driving and racing in the general public by appealing to an untapped audience with potential for greatness: the world of gamers.

Moore's idea was to bring the world's best Gran Turismo players and attempt to turn them into professional motorsport racers, something he begins with the help of former racer Jack Salter, played by David Harbor who is another standout member of Gran Turismo 's fantastic cast . One of the entrants into the tournament is Archie Madekew's Jann Mardenborough, with Gran Turismo chronicling his journey from Gran Turismo player to racing in the most prestigious race in the world: 24 Hours of Le Mans. The film ends with Jann's race in Le Mans, in a true feel-good, sports movie from director Neill Blomkamp.

Gran Turismo’s Le Mans Race & Jann’s Placement Explained

Gran Turismo 's plot builds to the 24 Hours of Le Mans race, one of motorsport's most prestigious events. The Le Mans race is different from other motorsport events as the positioning is based on how much ground each car covers. Each car has three drivers who must rotate across 24 hours, with no driver being allowed to race for longer than 14 hours; the team whose car covers the most distance after 24 hours is crowned the winner. Alongside the Monaco Grand Prix and Indianapolis 500, the Le Mans race makes up the Triple Crown of Motorsport, proving the difficulty Jann had to overcome to race in the event.

As the 24 Hours of Le Mans race makes up the climax of Gran Turismo , much of the opus is placed on Jann's positioning. It is revealed before the race that Jann and his team of other GT Academy drivers must place in the top three in order to be classed as "real" racers by the other teams who are petitioning to have them removed from the sport. The positioning of Le Mans is interesting, in that teams compete within their class - that being against a set group of other cars with the same or similar specifications - while simultaneously competing with every other car outside of their class.

At the end of Gran Turismo , Jann and his team managed to secure third, earning a podium finish and proving all the doubters wrong about the GT Academy project. What G ran Turismo does not reveal is that Jann and his team finished ninth overall, yet the third-placed finish was within their class which explains the podium celebrations. That said, a podium finish of any kind was all Jann and his other races needed to accomplish in order to prove Moore's GT Academy idea a success.

Why The Other GT Academy Drivers Race On Jann’s Le Mans Team

One interesting element of the true story of Gran Turismo that is changed somewhat for the film's ending is the two other members of Jann's Le Mans team consisting of other GT Academy drivers. The reason for this stems from the unconventional project of the GT Academy, with the other racing teams in motorsport petitioning against Jann racing due to his entrance into the sport. Moore is then given an ultimatum: Jann and two other GT Academy racers must drive at Le Mans and secure a podium finish. If they can do so, the rest of the motorsport world will acknowledge the GT Academy drivers as real racers.

How Gran Turismo’s Le Mans Race Compares To Real Life

Gran Turismo 's true story changes the Le Mans race somewhat, in that both other racers besides Jann are GT Academy drivers. In the real Le Mans 2013 race on which the film is based, Jann Mardenborough raced alongside Michael Krumm and Lucas Ordóñez. The former was a professional racer who entered the sport through conventional means before racing in Le Mans 2013, while the latter had a similar background to Jann. To dramatize the events of Gran Turismo 's ending, the decision was made to change both other racers into GT Academy drivers alongside Jann.

In terms of results, Gran Turismo accurately depicts Jann's podium finish alongside his team. While the film neglects to delve into all the details surrounding Le Mans positioning - such as the competition being simultaneous between classes and every other car - Gran Turismo simplifies things for general audiences by simply stating Jann must finish third and showing him doing so. As it turns out, the mention that Jann's team finished ninth in the overall competition is not necessary, as a third-place finish within their class was enough to secure their future in motorsport.

Did Jann Really Break A Le Mans Lap Record?

In Gran Turismo 's ending, Jann is shown as the last interval driver for the 24 Hours of Le Mans race. After a few hiccups, Jann is sent back into the race to attempt to secure a podium finish. Jann uses his knowledge of racing the Le Mans track from the titular video game to race somewhat unconventionally, allowing him to make up ground on the cars in front and eventually finish in third. This unconventional racing is highlighted in the film by Jann setting a Le Mans lap record, begging the question of whether this happened in real life.

The true story of the film - which appears to be resonating well with audiences as evidenced by Gran Turismo 's Rotten Tomatoes score - is slightly different. It seems as though there is no evidence to the fact that Jann Mardenborough broke a Le Mans lap record. In reality, Mardenborough is credited with setting a lap record a year after the 2013 Le Mans at the Hockenheimring race with the filmmakers behind Gran Turismo changing this to Le Mans for dramatic effect during the film's finale.

How Gran Turismo 2 Could Happen

While unlikely, there are some ways Gran Turismo 2 could happen. Firstly, Jann's 2013 Le Mans podium finish truly kickstarted his racing career. Since competing at Le Mans in 2013, Jann went on to primarily race in Japanese competitions such as the Super GT and Super Formula championships. These championships could easily see Madekwe return as Jann in a sequel to Gran Turismo alongside Harbor and Bloom as Salter and Moore respectively.

Another possibility for Gran Turismo 2 is sequels focusing on other GT Academy classes. The GT Academy program continued long before and after Jann's success in reality, meaning a sequel to the film could center on Moore and Slater training other successful candidates. Naturally, this all depends on Gran Turismo 's box office success which will likely decide whether a sequel or continuation is produced.

The Real Meaning Of Gran Turismo’s Ending Explained

Finally, when concerning the real meaning of Gran Turismo 's ending, the result is fairly self-explanatory. Much of the film is centered around Jann proving doubters wrong. From members of his own team and pit crew to other racers and even the doubts his family members hold about his ambitions, the meaning of Gran Turismo 's ending lies in Jann proving to everyone that he belongs as a motorsport racer. When concerning whether Gran Turismo accomplished this, the sheer elation, emotional impact, and excitement of Jann's Le Mans race proves the film went above and beyond in delivering the true meaning of its ending.

Is the Gran Turismo movie based on a true story? Yes. Here's a full fact-check of the film

While the market dominance of movies plucked from the superhero realm remains undisputed, Hollywood is finding a way to make money off another pop culture staple: video games.

There’s the recent $1.36 billion haul by “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” and now comes “Gran Turismo” (in theaters now), a live-action film playing off the popularity of the Sony PlayStation auto racing simulator .

While the former was purely a cartoon fantasy, “Gran Turismo” is powered by a true story. But as with most movies, liberties have been taken.

Here’s a breakdown of fact and fiction with an assist from “Gran Turismo” star Archie Madekwe and the man he’s playing, video game ace turned-professional race car driver Jann Mardenborough.

Did Nissan and Sony really sponsor a contest to see if a skilled video gamer could race a sports car?

In 2008, Nissan Europe marketing executive Darren Cox (a character based on him named Danny Moore is played by Orlando Bloom) launched the Nissan GT Academy with Sony. The idea was to capitalize on the growing popularity of the racing simulator, whose teenage players would soon become the next generation of automotive buyers.

“I thought, what the heck, let me give it a try,” says Mardenborough, 31. “I had dropped out of university because it didn’t involve driving race cars and was working at a department store, which was soul-sucking. So this happened at the right place and right time.”

Did Jann Mardenborough win the first Nissan GT Challenge?

British-born Mardenborough actually won the third incarnation of the GT Academy in 2011, and became its youngest champ at just 19. The winner of that inaugural Nissan GT Challenge was Spain’s Lucas Ordoñez, who raced successfully for a number of years.

Mardenborough says the biggest shock of winning was adjusting to the cutthroat world of racing. “I had the inexperience of youth, didn’t understand the politics, didn’t know about self-preservation,” he says. “But to leave home to do something that brought me joy was easy.”

Did Jann Mardenborough really come in third at Le Mans?

In 2013, Mardenborough and two other Nissan racers did place third in the LMP2 class at the iconic 24-hour race in France, which is a thematic high point in “Gran Turismo.”

The real team consisted of Mardenborough; inaugural Gran Turismo contest winner Ordoñez; plus one racing veteran who did not come from the video game world, Michael Krumm.

But to make the movie more dramatic, the writers made the three Le Mans winners consist of Mardenborough and two of the fictional runners-up.

The victory still looms large. “To this day, that (Le Mans) trophy is the only one in my room,” says Mardenborough, who today races largely in Japan. ”But it’s for third place. I feel there’s still unfinished business there. I’d still love to win it.”

Did Jann Mardenborough almost die in a crash in Germany?

In 2015, a Nissan GT3 sportscar driven by Mardenborough got airborne and left the notoriously difficult and deadly Nürburgring track in Germany. A spectator died , and the driver was hospitalized.

“Because it was all real, and someone died, we made sure the movie is very true to life in all the details,” says Mardenborough. “It was a big turning point for my career, where it could have all ended, but didn’t.”

Did Archie Madekwe do his own stunt driving in ‘Gran Turismo’?

Mardenborough was called in to do the racing scenes for the movie, which says “opened me up to a how movies are made, which is thrilling.”

Madekwe had only recently received his driver’s license and got a crash course in track driving with a professional. “It’s one of the hardest things I’ve ever done, and honestly, I often would have to kind of throw up in the middle of shooting some of those scenes, the G-forces were that severe on my body,” says the 28-year-old actor. “But doing that made me appreciate what drivers do. One mistake and things can go really wrong. There’s no reset button.”

Was Jann Mardenborough’s father really a soccer player?

He's the son of British soccer player Steve Mardenborough, who played for a range of clubs. “Gran Turismo” mines the often-tense relationship between Jann and his father (played by Djimon Hounsou) for some of its most powerful scenes.

Mardenborough says the tension wasn't contrived. When he announced to his father and soccer-crazed brother that he was applying for the GT Academy, “my father laughed, and they both just kept watching. My mother thought it was fantastic.”

Why does the actress playing Jann’s mother look familiar?

Lesley Mardenborough is played by Spice Girl Geri Halliwell, who will be recognized by fans of the Netflix Formula 1 racing docuseries “Drive to Survive.”

Halliwell has a true motorsports connection. She's married to Christian Horner, one of series' stars and team principal for the currently dominant F1 team, Red Bull. He and Halliwell make frequent appearances in the series, both at the track and at their home in rural England.

What cars do Jann Mardenborough and Archie Madekwe drive for real?

Mardenborough cherishes his 1990s dream car that he was finally able to afford, a 1995 Ferrari 456 GT in blue with cream leather. It’s a two-door car, but rare for a Ferrari in that it has back seats. “I like to joke that one day when I have a wife and family, I’ll be able to tell them, look, it fits all of us, no need to sell it,” he says.

Madekwe is still shopping for his first vehicle. While he likes the Nissan GT-R, a pivotal “Gran Turismo” scene finds him and crew chief Jack Salter (a composite character played by David Harbour) returning to the Nürburgring in an exotic Porsche 911 GT3 RS. “Getting into that car, I thought, OK, wow, now I get it,” Madekwe says. “That car made me a car fan.”

Gran Turismo (2023)

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The Ending Of Gran Turismo Explained

Contains spoilers for "Gran Turismo"

After delivering two acclaimed TV series based on their renowned games — "The Last of Us" and "Twisted Metal" — Sony and PlayStation head back to the big screen for a story in the world of "Gran Turismo." Unlike most video game movies, the film's story isn't directly based on the simulation racing games and instead takes inspiration from a real-life story connected to the franchise's legacy. The film tells the story of Jann Mardenborough (Archie Madekwe) — a "Gran Turismo" player who's invited to compete in an experimental competition called "GT Academy." There, Jann is tasked with learning how to drive actual race cars and beating out the other top "Gran Turismo" players chosen for the competition. If Jann can win GT Academy, he'll earn his chance to make his dreams of becoming a professional racer come true.

"Gran Turismo" not only gives audiences all the intense racing they can handle, but the film also delivers an emotional underdog story set within a highly dangerous sport. With every sense of doubt and danger that Jann faces in his journey for success, he becomes more determined to prove himself, and audiences will easily rally around him. It all builds toward a tense finale that sees Jann put everything on the line to gain the respect and acclaim he deserves. So let's delve into the biggest moments from the film's ending and even look at how it even compares to Jann's real-life story.

What you need to remember about the plot

Before we delve into the film's finale, though, let's look at the biggest moments leading up to it. After Nissan marketing executive Danny Moore ( Orlando Bloom ) gets approval to create the competition series GT Academy and recruits bitterly retired racer Jack Salter ( David Harbour ), he starts to pick out competitors from across the globe. British hopeful Jann Mardenborough joins the competition after earning his spot in a virtual qualifying race. Although Jann and his fellow competitors are hopeful that their dreams will become a reality, Salter gives them a reality check through some harsh but necessary training. Despite Salter's tough training methods that push everyone to their limits, Jann is not only able to improve his skills but ultimately comes out victorious by the narrowest of margins.

Before being able to join the ranks of the world's top racers, though, Jann must earn his professional license and contract with Nissan by placing fourth or higher in a qualifying series. Although Jann's first race doesn't go well, he steadily improves and is eventually able to place high enough to earn his license and start his professional career. Shortly after signing his contract with Nissan, Jann enters his first race. Though things start well, it ends in disaster. Jann's car unexpectedly flips in the air and crashes into a spectator section — accidentally killing a spectator. This tragedy causes Jann to blame himself for what happened and give up racing altogether.

What happened at the end of the movie

Although Salter had his doubts about Jann and his fellow competitors' ability to actually compete in motorsport, he slowly starts to see how capable they are — especially Jann. By the time Jann earns his professional license, Salter completely believes in him and is arguably his biggest supporter. After Jann's accident, though, Salter is crushed by Jann's decision to quit racing because Jann evokes a sense of passion and love for racing that's all but evaporated from Salter's perspective. Salter ultimately decides to reach out to Jann and take him for a drive back to where the tragic accident occurred. There, he finally tells Jann what caused him to stop racing — and it turns out that it's similar to what Jann is going through.

Salter was also involved in a tragic accident at the peak of his career, which caused a fatality that he was never able to shake. Like Jann, though people told Salter that it wasn't his fault, he was never able to fully let it go, and it caused him to struggle to get back into the driver's seat. To this day, Salter still regrets it and doesn't want Jann to see him go down the same path. Salter's story ends up inspiring Jann to not only reignite his racing career but also achieve the dreams that were cut short for Salter in his honor.

What happened during the final race?

Although Jann is ready to return to racing, Danny gives him some unfortunate news. While Jann isn't seen as responsible for the accident, others would rather have him no longer race. Most of the other drivers have signed a petition to keep "simulation racers" like Jann from competing — causing some of Jann's sponsors to consider pulling their support. With Jann not wanting to quit, he comes up with a way for them to prove that he belongs — by placing on the podium at the 24 Hours of Le Mans with a team of simulation racers.

Salter and Danny agree with Jann and call for his GT Academy adversaries Matty (Darren Barnet) and Antonio (Pepe Barroso) to race alongside him in a three-man team. Before the race starts, Jann is also able to reconcile with his father ( Djimon Hounsou ) – gaining the support and acceptance he's yearned for. Unfortunately, Jann struggles early in the race as he's consumed by fear after witnessing another driver crash. However, with the help of Salter reminding Jann of what he's driving for and playing some of his music to calm and motivate him, Jann is able to get in the right headspace. Despite some issues with the pit crew, Jann is able to fight back in the race and ultimately lead his team to a third-place finish — cementing their place in history and squashing any doubt he would be able to qualify.

How does the ending reflect the true story

Shortly after Jann and his team celebrate on the podium, the film delivers some small tidbits about Jann Mardenborough's real-life career and involvement with the film. Alongside some photos of Mardenborough's real experience competing in GT Academy and driving professionally, the film acknowledges that he has competed in over 200 races and earned many achievements in his career. As an added bonus, the film even tells viewers that Mardenborough actually acts as the stunt double for Madekwe in the film. So any exterior shots of race sequences actually have the real-life Jann Mardenborough driving — which is pretty awesome. However, the bigger question is: How much of what we see in the film is true to Jann's real-life story ?

While certain characters like Jack Salter are solely made up for the film, the events of the story are pretty accurate — but somewhat told out of order. For instance, the catastrophic accident that caused Jann to crash into a field of spectators actually happened a couple of years after he placed third at Le Mans. Also, he didn't race alongside other GT Academy graduates at Le Mans and actually raced with GT Academy alumni at the Spa 24 Hours instead. So though Jann's story in the film is inspired by actual events in Mardenborough's career rather than wholeheartedly based on them, "Gran Turismo" does its best to pay homage to the achievements and impact Mardenborough has had on the motorsport world.

What does the end of the movie mean

One of the biggest debates throughout the film is whether simulation players can hack it at the real thing. That question is what drives Danny to create GT Academy and causes Salter to openly doubt all the participants at the start of the competition. Jann is at the center of this debate as well. He's continually trying to prove that his doubters are wrong and that the "Gran Turismo" community should be taken seriously. While there is a noticeable adjustment period for Jann and other GT Academy competitors, since driving a virtual car is obviously different than getting behind the wheel of a high-speed racecar, Jann eventually puts his doubters in check — namely Salter.

When Jann enters the world of professional racing, he's quite a force to be reckoned with. He continually improves his craft and honestly impresses people in his first race — though it doesn't end in victory. Jann is living proof that simulation and video game skills can translate to reality and serve as a great stepping stone for someone wanting to be involved in the real thing. After all, moments like Jann knowing parts of the car Salter didn't think he would and understanding how to make passes on turns are great instances of the game connecting with reality. The film further gives the "Gran Turismo" community — and, really, other sim communities — a voice and shows that they are very capable of turning their virtual passions into reality.

Another explanation for the ending of Gran Turismo

As much as "Gran Turismo" is an inspiring underdog story that sees Jann achieve his dreams, it's also a bit of a cautionary tale. Sure, there's a lot of heartwarming success seen in Jann's journey, but it doesn't overshadow how the film highlights the dangers of motorsport. Before Jann even starts his GT Academy journey, Salter makes it clear to him and others that they could potentially die if things go wrong. He even says that there would be no shame in quitting because of that, either, and that he wouldn't let anyone he didn't believe in sit in the driver's seat. At first, this can just seem like scary talk from Salter to try and intimidate everyone, but it quickly becomes clear that he's not wrong.

The crashes in "Gran Turismo" prove how vicious and genuinely deadly motorsport can be. One wrong twitch during a turn or slight hesitation can lead to the death of other drivers, spectators, and even yourself. Jann experiences this multiple times throughout the film — not only does he see a fiery crash at Le Mans that the driver miraculously survives, but he's also involved in a crash that accidentally kills a spectator. The psychological trauma drivers can suffer from is equally horrifying. Jann's and Salter's minds are shown to be severely affected by crashes, and the mortified reactions of Jann's parents when he crashes are haunting. "Gran Turismo" equally showcases and analyzes the grounded horror of motorsport.

Dreams can come true

At its core, "Gran Turismo" is another classic sports underdog story meant to not only warm viewers' hearts but also inspire them to embrace their own passions. Like any classic sports underdog, Jann faces his fair share of adversity. From his father totally disapproving of his aspirations to become a racer to Salter pouring doubt on his high hopes throughout his time at GT Academy, there wasn't much support for Jann. Not to mention, he has to face and ultimately beat his GT Academy competitors — who are equally as talented as him. Even when he finally earns his chance to race in professional circuits, he's looked down upon by other drivers and is forced to deal with an accident that was beyond his control.

Yet Jann constantly perseveres and pushes past the obstacles in front of him through his sheer determination. He always finds ways to break past his limits and impress those who doubt him. His father and Salter certainly become impressed by his drive and ultimately become his most pivotal supporters. It's what makes Jann leading a landmark performance at Le Mans so impactful and meaningful, as audiences have been with him every step of the way. "Gran Turismo" is a classic sports story through and through — with underdog vibes that remind viewers that everyone's dreams can come true no matter how big or small.

Why Le Mans means so much to the finale

The film ending on Jann Mardenborough's legendary performance at the 24 Hours of Le Mans actually holds more meaning to the film and the wider racing world. At the start of the film, Jann is seen racing his friend online in "Gran Turismo" on the Le Mans track. So his racing in the real-life endurance race in the finale brings his journey full circle. Jann and his team placing third at Le Mans is arguably one of his most notable achievements in Mardenborough's real-life professional career. It was the race that really put him on the map and helped him break away from solely being looked at as just the GT Academy winner.

Le Mans also being the setting for the film's finale is also pretty meaningful for both fans of the sport and even more general fans since the race has an iconic legacy in the sport. The 24 Hours of Le Mans is easily one of the most well-known and highly regarded events in the racing world. As said in the film, placing there basically solidifies you as a legend in the sport. It's a setting that really elevates the meaning behind Jann and his team trying to get "sim racers" like themselves the respect they deserve. While Le Mans would be a pretty noteworthy finale setting for any racing film, it holds a little more meaning for the characters of "Gran Turismo."

What does the ending mean for the Gran Turismo franchise?

Now for the usual question that comes after most movies that come from big studios nowadays: Does the film have franchise potential? Currently, there have been no announcements made that a sequel for "Gran Turismo" has gone into development and frankly, there probably won't be one. Given that the film is based on the real-life story of Jann Mardenborough rather than an original story set within the world of the games, there aren't many ways for a sequel to "Gran Turismo" to happen. A sequel could potentially continue to focus on Mardenborough's career and depict a different chapter in his life. Or maybe a sequel could focus on another winner from GT Academy, as there were multiple seasons and some competitors — like Nicolas Hammann and Mark Shulzhitskiy — could have interesting stories to tell.

There's also a chance that a follow-up film could potentially just tell a completely original story and maybe crossover with Jann at some point. However, with the first film being based on a real story, it would probably be smarter to just continue that trend. Plus, "Gran Turismo" being a biopic is actually what makes it unique compared to other video game movies. So an original story likely isn't in the cards either. If the film does well at the box office, maybe Sony and PlayStation will want to do more. For now, though, fans shouldn't expect another "Gran Turismo" film any time soon.

What the ending of Gran Turismo says about PlayStation's adaptations of their games

Although Sony and PlayStation have shown interest in turning their movie and TV adaptations into the same type of successful franchises that their games are, the ending of "Gran Turismo" says something different. While we already know that a second season of "The Last of Us" is coming and that the endings of "Uncharted" and "Twisted Metal" hint at potential futures, "Gran Turismo" is the first adaptation from them that feels closed and done. The ending simply highlights Jann Mardenborough's success in the film and real life and doesn't present a bigger future ahead. So there could be more one-and-done PlayStation adaptations that come in the future.

With PlayStation and Sony not trying to establish a big cinematic future for "Gran Turismo," the companies seem to have recognized that not every story needs guaranteed franchise potential to be considered worth adapting. So smaller PlayStation games like "Concrete Genie," "Ape Escape," "Shadow of the Colossus," or maybe even "Patapon" could get big- or small-screen adaptations one day. Prior to "Gran Turismo," PlayStation might be expected to try to turn all of its video game adaptations into robust franchises. But "Gran Turismo" changes that narrative with its ending, and closing the book on the "Gran Turismo" story opens the door for unthinkable adaptations to potentially happen.

Where to Watch and Stream ‘Gran Turismo,’ Starring Archie Madekwe

The video game-inspired racing movie also features Orlando Bloom and David Harbour.

preview for Gran Turismo - Official Trailer (Sony Pictures)

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With the release of the new film Gran Turismo , fans get a lot of heart, the rush of racecars and the story of a young man who turned his love of video games into an astounding career.

Now, if that premise intrigues you, then you may be wondering exactly how you can watch and stream Gran Turismo without heading to a theater. Well, it's time to get on the racetrack, because we have the answer for you. Keep on reading to learn where to watch and stream Gran Turismo online.

Where to watch and stream Gran Turismo :

Presently, the only place folks can watch Gran Tursimo is by purchasing a ticket at a local movie theater. But it won't be long until viewers can view the film on an extremely popular streaming site.

'Gran Turismo 7'

The action drama is currently being distributed by Sony Pictures, which also was the studio that put out 2022's Bullet Train . After three months of being in the box office, Bullet Train eventually made its way to Netflix . This coincides with the deal Sony made with the streamer in 2021, which gave Netflix the rights to have the movies live on their site. If this pattern follows similarly, it's likely Gran Turismo will drop on Netflix as well.

As for a specific release date for Gran Turismo , that's currently hard to say. Bullet Train dropped on Netflix roughly three months after its August cinematic debut, leading us to think Gran Turismo will have a similar trajectory. If this is the case, fans can start watching the film on Netflix ahead of Christmas in December 2023.

When the time comes to stream Gran Turismo on Netflix, viewers will need to register with the site first. The site offers a number of plans to opt into, the lowest of which starts at $6.99 per month . Once an account is made, people can click on the movie title on Netflix's website or on the Netflix app .

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The Gran Turismo Movie Tells a Remarkable True Story—With One Big Exception

The movie, now streaming on Netlfix, dramatizes Jann Mardenborough’s unlikely rise from video gamer to professional driver.

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The British 31-year-old’s unlikely path from gamer to real-life racer is the subject of the new movie Gran Turismo , based on the popular Playstation series of the same name. The movie—which is now streaming on Netflix and stars Archie Madekwe as Mardenborough, Orlando Bloom , and David Harbour—tells a dramatized version of how a teenaged Mardenborough beat more than 90,000 players around the world in the 2011 GT Academy to become a professional driver.

Here’s what you need to know about Mardenborough’s unlikely rise and how the film takes creative liberty with one of the most horrifying moments of the racer’s career.

Early Racing Dreams

Whereas his father, Steve, was a former professional soccer player, Jann dreamed of holding a steering wheel from an early age. He grew up in Cardiff, Wales, and when he went to a local go-kart track at age 8 with Steve, he even impressed the track’s owner .

But within three years, the track closed down, and Mardenborough gave up racing because it was too expensive. “I didn’t do any karting, I didn’t know anyone in motorsport,” he said in a 2016 interview with Car Throttle . “So it became just a dream, just a goal which is so unachievable.”

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Described by his mother as “quite a home boy,” the shy Mardenborough instead retreated to his bedroom to play Gran Turismo . Unlike other arcade-style racing titles, the game series—which debuted in 1997 for the original Playstation console—is meant to accurately simulate the look and feel of driving a race car. On modern consoles, the experience is almost photorealistic.

This was Mardenborough’s only outlet to live out his racing dreams until age 19, when Nissan and Sony Computer Entertainment’s GT Academy would change his life forever.

Proving His Skills on the Track

jann mardenborough sitting in a race car cockpit with his helmet on and looking to the right

Mardenborough entered the hybrid gaming-driving competition, which offered a contract in the 2012 Dubai 24 Hour race to the winner. The first six weeks were completely virtual, with players asked to lay down their fastest laps on Gran Turismo 5 . Mardenborough, who had a simulator rig complete with pedals and a steering wheel, said he played as much as five hours a day. By the end, he advanced as the 11 th ranked player in the United Kingdom and Ireland.

In the next round, Mardenborough drove an actual car at the Brands Hatch circuit in southeast England. He was one of two participants to advance to the final portion at Silverstone, which hosts the annual Formula 1 British Grand Prix. After more cuts were made, he was one of only four drivers left to compete in a winner-take-all race on the Silverstone circuit. “The only time I thought I’d have a chance of winning was when I qualified first,” he told Car Throttle . “It was just impossible. You don’t think about that stuff.”

Sure enough, he won and moved to Silverstone for a six-month development program to earn his international driver’s license. Mardenborough quickly proved his success wasn’t a fluke by finishing third in class at both the Dubai 24 and the 24 Hours of Le Mans—arguably the world’s most prestigious auto race—a year later in 2013.

Since then, Mardenborough has competed in various racing series, including Formula 3, GT3, British GT, and Super GT. “The downforce, the G-force, the vibrations—it’s intoxicating bliss for me,” Mardenborough told The Irish Times in a recent interview. “Your body takes a pounding. Your heart rate is a minimum of 150 beats per minute. And it stays at that rate for hours. And you can burn 1,000 calories in two hours. It’s not just sitting down and driving. You are really wrestling a machine.”

The Crash at Nürburgring

a crashed race car sits upside down on grass next to a chain link fence, a uniformed person and one additional person stand in the foreground

While the Gran Turismo movie focuses on Mardenborough’s discovery and development, it also features an infamous accident involving the driver. In March 2015, Mardenborough was competing in a GT3 sportscar at Germany’s Nürburgring Nordschleife course when his car became airborne and flew over safety barriers. Multiple spectators were injured by the car and flying debris, and one person died in the accident.

Mardenborough, who was shockingly uninjured, called it “the darkest moment of my personal and professional life” and implored director Neill Blomkamp to include it in the film. The crash is depicted, but early screenings revealed it’s shown out of chronological order—more specifically, prior to his impressive run at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2013—for narrative effect.

Despite this significant change, which Polygon reviewer Oli Welsh called a “tasteless reframing of a fatal event,” Mardenborough continues to stand by the scene’s inclusion. “The producers and the writers made sure, and I made sure, that it was meticulously done correctly,” he told Daily Express US . “And the movie does a really good job at representing that. Not only the way it happened but also the aftermath. Because it was like that.”

Watch Gran Turismo on Netflix

Watch Archie Madekwe put the pedal to the metal as Jann Mardenborough in Gran Turismo , which also stars David Harbour as his trainer.

Tyler Piccotti first joined the Biography.com staff as an Associate News Editor in February 2023, and before that worked almost eight years as a newspaper reporter and copy editor. He is a graduate of Syracuse University. When he's not writing and researching his next story, you can find him at the nearest amusement park, catching the latest movie, or cheering on his favorite sports teams.

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“Gran Turismo” Is a Work of Pure Salesmanship

By Anthony Lane

All credit to “ Barbie ” and “ Oppenheimer ,” an odd couple if ever I saw one, for saving the summer box office, but the feast of moviegoing cannot last forever. Famine awaits. Look at the lineup that looms ahead: more “ Trolls ,” more “PAW Patrol,” yet more “ Hunger Games ,” a third shot of “The Equalizer” and of “My Big Fat Greek Wedding,” and a fourth dose of “The Expendables,” who are evidently not. Already in cinemas is “Meg 2: The Trench,” a shark-infested swamp of joylessness. Much of it takes place on the ocean floor, in a confounding murk; the one bright patch is the opening scene, which is set sixty-five million years ago, around the time of Henry Kissinger’s tenth birthday.

Now we have Neill Blomkamp’s “Gran Turismo.” The title refers to the video game, familiar to the bleary eyes of PlayStation devotees, which allows the user to relish all the thrills—and, in painless form, the spills—of high-speed driving without the shame of environmental pollution or the torment of bickering about a parking spot. The movie’s hero is Jann Mardenborough (Archie Madekwe), a shy youth from Cardiff, the capital of Wales, who pledges himself, with priestly zeal, to the practice of Gran Turismo. When the chance arrives to test his talents in an actual car, on a tangible racetrack, with rivals hurtling around him, he doesn’t hesitate. One moment he’s sitting in his bedroom in Cardiff; the next he’s on a private jet to Vienna. Talk about social mobility.

The cast of the film is an unusually mixed salad of talents, including David Harbour, Djimon Hounsou, Geri Halliwell-Horner, and Orlando Bloom—or, as their fans might prefer to think of them, a Hellboy, a gladiator, a Spice Girl , and an elf. Hounsou and Halliwell-Horner play Jann’s parents, who, not surprisingly, are dismayed by the ludicrous ambition of their son. Bloom, with a drop of oily smugness, plays a marketing whiz who convinces the executives at Nissan, in Tokyo, that by recruiting a gamer to drive their cars, in competition, they will appeal to “an untapped demographic of buyers.”

Notice the nakedness of the plea. Not since “Wayne’s World” (1992), in which Mike Myers found the courage to declare, “I will not bow to any sponsor,” while deftly raising the lid of a Pizza Hut box toward the camera, has a film been so flagrantly unembarrassed by its commercial obligations. Salesmanship is both the subject and the purpose of “Gran Turismo.” (It makes “ Air ” look bashful.) Were there a prize for the least subtle pitch on display, I’d be tempted to nominate the sight of a Nissan with the PlayStation logo plastered over it, but the winner would have to be a gift that Jann bestows upon his mentor, Jack Salter (Harbour), for services rendered: a shiny new Walkman, held just long enough in Jack’s grasp for us to drink in the word “Sony.” This is not a question of a movie selling its soul. The soul is in the selling.

Harbour is an actor of such genial grit that he, alone among the performers, manages to abrade the smooth absurdities of “Gran Turismo.” His character is hired to turn Jann and a bunch of other hopefuls into racing drivers, and he gives it to them straight. “I’m going to prove that you don’t have what it takes,” Jack tells them. The cranky coach is a Hollywood standby—think of Robert Duvall fine-tuning Tom Cruise in “Days of Thunder” (1990)—and it goes without saying that Jack is a “flamed-out has-been,” but Harbour does what he can to rein in the runaway triumphalism of the plot, and I liked the unexcitable shrug with which he reports an inferno on the track. “Cars explode all the time,” he says. “This is normal.”

Blomkamp, who made “District 9” (2009) and “Elysium” (2013), is at his best when everything goes nuts. There are a couple of crashes in “Gran Turismo” that rock you back in your seat; one involves a vehicle cresting a hill at the Nürburgring, in Germany, flipping on its stern, and sailing off the course. The perennial hitch with race-car flicks is how to drive home the roaring craziness of the contest without leaving the audience simply deafened and disoriented, and Blomkamp solves the problem by giving us literal pointers—little lines that indicate Jann’s car as he whips along, plus numbers to inform us where he stands in the running. More helpful still is the marketing guy’s last-minute clarification of the twenty-four-hour race at Le Mans. “Just to go over it again: it’s a twenty-four-hour race,” he says. Thanks.

The strange thing about “Gran Turismo” is that, by and large, it happens to be a true story. There is a Jann Mardenborough, and he is indeed a PlayStation supremo who became a driver. Over and over, we are invited to goggle at such amazingness. “This is not a game. This is a race,” Jann is told, and his father exhorts him to stick to “the realm of reality.” The overarching irony of the tale is that, true though it may be, it never feels quite real; the more that Jann exceeds what is foretold of him, the farther he accelerates into a mere simulation of a plausible narrative. I think Blomkamp is onto something with this movie, at the extremes of fantasy fulfillment, and I half expected him to pull away at the end to reveal that the whole saga, winner’s podium and all, had been engineered by A.I., down to the last virtual nut and bolt. Where we go from here I hate to imagine. Maybe gamers everywhere, following Jann’s lead, will now demand entry to the mortal world. Get ready for films about Mario Kart addicts who leave their consoles, grow mustaches, and train to become small Italianate plumbers. The play’s the thing.

After the hustling pace of “Gran Turismo,” the stillness of “Fremont,” a new film from Babak Jalali, feels not so much restful as haunted. There are long stretches during which the characters—notably the heroine, Donya (Anaita Wali Zada)—hold steady in front of the camera, saying next to nothing. That’s how Donya gets to see a shrink without an appointment: just by staring the receptionist into submission. Later, when she looks us in the eye, it’s hard not to feel scrutinized, as if we were being asked to account for our actions.

Donya needs a psychiatrist because she wants sleeping pills, and she can’t sleep because the thought of her old existence—which we don’t see, and which we hear about only piecemeal—is pressing against her current one. She lives in Fremont, California, and has a job, in San Francisco, at a business that makes fortune cookies. (By way of a promotion, she graduates from wrapping them to writing the mottoes tucked inside. “They shouldn’t be too original,” her boss commands.) But she used to live in Afghanistan, where she was an interpreter, employed by U.S. forces to translate for Afghan troops. Those duties earned her a visa and a chance to evacuate after the Taliban returned to power. If you watched last year’s alarming HBO documentary “Escape from Kabul,” you will have some conception of the chaos from which she, or her real-life counterparts, fled. Her calmness, these days, is that of someone who walked through the storm.

It would be heartening to report that Donya is embraced by the immigrant community of her compatriots, but, as the movie suggests, so benign an ideal doesn’t always work out. One of Donya’s neighbors refuses to speak to her, presumably because of her deeds in Afghanistan; another does little but stand on a balcony and smoke. Could it be that reaching out to others, as we are so often enjoined to do, is beyond the capacity of the stunned? My favorite figure is a waiter who stands idle in the lowly joint where Donya—the only customer, apparently—tends to dine. Gazing at a soap opera on the restaurant TV, he remarks, “I can’t tell if this series is interesting, or if my own life is uninteresting.” Rarely has the fatal attraction of television been so concisely defined.

To treat “Fremont” as some kind of geopolitical case history, though, would be misleading. It’s more of a study in solitude. Donya, rehearsing for a blind date, sets a table and makes conversation to the empty air, like Miss Lonelyhearts in “Rear Window” (1954). Also, a mood of desolation emanates even from those who are not condemned to exile. Donya’s shrink, for instance, is a hapless fellow named Dr. Anthony (Gregg Turkington), who is obsessed with Jack London’s “ White Fang ” and seems pitifully pleased to have someone to talk to; it’s really not his fault if he bears an unfortunate resemblance to the brute in “Fargo” (1996) who fed one of his victims into a wood chipper. Then, we have the mechanic, played with a halting gentleness by Jeremy Allen White, whom Donya encounters at a garage. “I usually eat my lunch here,” he tells her, “and for dinner I’ll eat here, too.”

The movie, photographed by Laura Valladao, is in black-and-white; add the deadpan dialogue and you may be reminded of, say, early Jim Jarmusch . But there’s not a smack of hipness here, and Jalali is not on a quest for cool. Rather, the story is suffused with an uncommon blend of radiance and resignation, nowhere more rapturously than in the final shot. Donya stands beneath a tree, in a luminous haze of sunlight, beside the busted shell of a car with no wheels and an abandoned armchair. In America, her newfound land, even the things are alone. ♦

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Gran turismo: based on a true story.

The unbelievable true story that proves nothing is impossible when you’re fueled from within.

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MPAA rating ‏ : ‎ PG-13 (Parents Strongly Cautioned)
Package Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7.56 x 5.39 x 0.55 inches; 2.29 ounces
Media Format ‏ : ‎ Digital_copy, DVD, Subtitled, NTSC
Run time ‏ : ‎ 2 hours and 14 minutes
Release date ‏ : ‎ November 7, 2023
Actors ‏ : ‎ David Harbour, Orlando Bloom, Archie Madekwe, Darren Barnet, Geri Halliwell
Studio ‏ : ‎ SONY
ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0CFDH7KBC
Country of Origin ‏ : ‎ USA
Number of discs ‏ : ‎ 1
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Gran Turismo

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‘Gran Turismo 7’ State of Play will reveal new footage this week

30 minutes of new footage and gameplay details

A Gran Turismo 7 State of Play is coming on Wednesday and it promises just over 30 minutes of new PlayStation 5 footage.

READ MORE: 10 games to look forward to in 2022

Sony revealed the news on a blog post and tweet shared earlier today (January 31), though not many details have been announced just yet. The official PlayStation Twitter account unveiled a 30 second video showcasing a little of what to expect from Gran Turismo 7 . Basically, fast cars, good looks, and some stunning race tracks to drive down.

The PlayStation blog post promises new footage as well as gameplay details for Gran Turismo 7 on Wednesday. It will be possible to watch live on Twitch or YouTube so it should be easy to catch up on. The event begins at 10PM UK time/2PM PT/5PM ET. That means many fans will need to stay up late to see what will be announced.

Gran Turismo 7 takes center stage in an all-new State of Play, arriving Wednesday at 2pm Pacific: https://t.co/Yo0Iq8udFH pic.twitter.com/F3ASOpmpeQ — PlayStation (@PlayStation) January 31, 2022

It’s expected that we will see more of the modes and features contained in Gran Turismo 7 although no specific details have been released yet.

Gran Turismo 7 is likely to offer over 90 tracks according to a leaflet distributed in a major Japanese electronics retailer. It is also expected to include 420 different car models as well as “realistic weather and scenery”.

The game is also expected to have the most tuning parts in the series’ history which should satisfy tinkerers. It’s not all great news for the game though with the single-player campaign requiring an internet connection to play .

Cannes Competition Title ‘Grand Tour’ Debuts Trailer, Director Miguel Gomes’ Next Film to Be ‘Savagery’ (EXCLUSIVE)

By Leo Barraclough

Leo Barraclough

International Features Editor

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Variety has been granted exclusive access to the trailer (below) for Portuguese director Miguel Gomes ‘ “Grand Tour,” which will have its world premiere in Cannes Film Festival’s Competition section. Variety can also exclusively reveal that that distribution on “Grand Tour” will be handled in France by Tandem, and in Italy by Lucky Red, and that Gomes’ next film will be “Savagery.”

Popular on Variety

“Grand Tour” is produced by Uma Pedra No Sapato (Portugal) in co-production with Vivo Film (Italy), Shellac Sud (France) and Cinema Defacto (France), in association with The Match Factory (Germany), Rediance (China) and Creatps Inc. (Japan), and with the participation of ZDF/ARTE and RTP.

Gomes was previously in Cannes in 2015 with “Arabian Nights” and in 2021 with “The Tsugua Diaries.” His 2012 film “Tabu” played at the Berlinale.

Speaking to Variety , the film’s producer Filipa Reis explains how the project came together.

It was over dinner with Reis that Gomes first presented his idea for the film, in which narrative sequences shot in a studio would be intercut with footage of contemporary Asia. “The idea was… I don’t know… very appealing and charming,” says Reis, who was a co-producer on “The Tsugua Diaries.” Gomes then asked her to produce it.

The plan was for Gomes to take a small documentary-style crew to seven Asian countries – Myanmar, Vietnam, Thailand, Singapore, Philippines, Japan and China – shooting in 16mm so “that we could build this archive and then to write the script according to what was found,” Reis says.

Once those funds were in place, Gomes shot the narrative sequences in studios in Portugal and Italy in early 2023.

Reis says it was a “challenge” to do the Asia trip without a script, adding “it’s not as it’s meant to be in the industry, but it was also very appealing.” She adds that it required “a risk” to be taken to shoot the archive footage before applying to the production funds.

Asked how working with Gomes compares with working other directors, she says: “He’s very unique. And I think to work with him, you really have to be very confident about what he’s doing, because it can be a proposal that’s a bit outside the box compared with the way you are used to doing things, and the way the funds and the industry thinks things are supposed to be done.”

During the studio shoot they had “links to some rough edit archive footage, so that when you read the script, you could understand at least how [the narrative footage] crossed over with the archive,” she says. The narrative sequences are in Portuguese, except for one character who speaks in French. The archive footage is in the language of the country that the crew were shooting in.

Although the story takes place in Asia during a time of imperial rule in many countries colonialism isn’t the theme, Reis says, in contrast to “Tabu.” “I would say that it’s something new. Of course, ‘Tabu’ is a great film, but I think this one will be surprising,” she says, enigmatically.

As to the tone of “Grand Tour,” Reis says that it contains both comedy and tragedy, “but it is also melancholic, and it is courageous.” She adds: “I think it has a lot of emotional elements for us to make a connection with it.”

The film was finished in October, and shown to Cannes in November. A world premiere at Cannes was always “Plan A,” Reis says, adding: “I feel as a producer that it’s where the film is supposed to be, and where Miguel is supposed to be.”

At present no preview screenings are planned, although that may change, and Gomes isn’t doing press interviews before the world premiere. “We would like it if the film was discovered by everyone at the same time,” Reis says. “I’m a bit anxious to see how it will be received, and we are very curious about that. So it would be nice if we could make a surprise and share our enthusiasm and our surprise with the audience.”

Reis says that her next project as a producer will be Gomes’ Brazilian-set film “Savagery,” which will be co-produced by Tatiana Leite in Brazil. Further details about the project will be released at a later date.

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You Can Buy The Audi R8 GT3 That Starred In The Gran Turismo Film

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You Can Buy The Audi R8 GT3 That Starred In The Gran Turismo Film

This Audi R8 GT3 LMS Evo race car has an asking price of $249,000

by Brad Anderson

This Audi R8 racer had a colorful livery for the film.
No history has been provided about the Audi’s previous racing past.
All Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo models have a 5.2-liter V10 capped at 500 hp due to balance of performance regulations.

The Gran Turismo film may not have been a box office hit but it was entertaining to watch and featured heaps of on-track action. Now one of the cars used in the film has appeared for sale on Facebook Marketplace.

This Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo was not one of the film’s most important cars but was featured in a selection of racing scenes alongside numerous other GT3 race cars, including Lamborghini Huracans, Nissan GT-Rs, Chevy Corvettes, Ford GTs, and others. In the film, it was finished in white with a selection of green, orange, red, and grey accents, although those colorful elements have now been removed.

Read: The Supercar Era Is Over At Audi As R8 Production Ends

A listing on Facebook Marketplace for the car notes that it is located near San Marcos, Texas, with an asking price of $249,000. The seller notes that it is not street-legal and was recently inspected by a local race car service center.

Just three photos of the car in its current state have been provided. It doesn’t appear to have sustained any noticeable damage during filming and could make for the ultimate track toy. Being a legitimate GT3 race car, the cabin is stripped out and doesn’t feature much other than a racing seat, plenty of carbon fiber, and a removable steering wheel.

No details have been provided about the car’s history and whether or not it had been raced prior to filming of Gran Turismo . We have reached out to the seller asking for additional information and will update this story when we hear back.

Audi introduced the R8 LMS GT3 Evo back in 2018. It has the same 5.2-liter naturally-aspirated V10 as the road-going R8 but balance of performance rules means it has been limited to 500 hp. It also comes adorned with a plethora of dramatic aerodynamic components, including the massive rear wing, a redesigned front fascia with a pronounced lip and canards, and widened bodywork.

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Director and actor Elia Suleiman will receive the Honorary Heart of Sarajevo Award and a dedicated ‘Tribute to’ Programme at the 30th Sarajevo Film Festival . Suleiman is known for films such as Divine Intervention, which won the Jury Prize and FIPRESCI International Critics Prize at Cannes in 2002, and It Must Be Heaven , which received a Jury mention on the Croisette in 2019. He has previously served as the President of the Jury at the Sarajevo Film Festival in 2016 and is currently an artistic advisor for the Doha Film Institute. “With his trademark wit, humor and profound insight, Suleiman navigates the complexities of our existence, shedding light on the absurdities of life with unmatched clarity and poignancy, portraying the spirit and identity of Palestine with a unique authorial style,” said Jovan Marjanović, Director of the Sarajevo Film Festival. “Now, in the darkest of times in his native land, his work serves as a beacon of understanding, reminding us of the power of storytelling to inspire meaningful dialogue.”

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10 Games You Should Play If You Love Gran Turismo

Gran Turismo's appeal lies in its combination of racing and customization, allowing car lovers to design their own vehicles from scratch.
Rocket League may not be a traditional racing game, but it offers a wild and exhilarating experience for players who enjoy being behind the wheel.
Star Wars Episode I: Racers provides a unique and intense racing experience with customizable podracers, making it a great choice for Gran Turismo fans looking for something different.

It seems as though ever since the world of gaming began, developers have been eager to transfer the concept of racing into video games. This has taken many different forms using many different vehicles. Obviously, cars have been one of the most popular with all different types of car games, but there's something special about Gran Turismo .

Related: Best PS2 Racing Games

Right from the start, this was a game designed specifically for car lovers everywhere. The ability not just to race cars but also to design them from the bottom up has been an essential feature of the series that fans love. Here is a list of games Gran Turismo fans will enjoy.

Updated on August 25, 2023 by Chris Harding : This list was updated to include a video (featured below.)

Rocket League

Rocket League isn't a racing game. If that's the reason players like Gran Turismo, then this game might not be the best as it's all about using cars to play crazy soccer. But if players love Gran Turismo simply because they love being behind the wheel and enjoy all things automobiles, then this is a wild and crazy experience.

It's a way to drive a car in a completely different setting from simply racing around a track. It's an adrenaline-filled sports extravaganza that's definitely a break from traditional car games.

Twisted Metal

Like Rocket League, Twisted Metal is another car game that has nothing to do with racing. Quite the opposite, it's all about destruction and destroying other cars on the road. Still, for car fanatics that love everything that has to do with driving on four (and sometimes two) wheels, it's definitely a break from the same old style of racing that car games are accustomed to.

And there are so many different types of vehicles that it's great to get a wide range of characters to choose from.

Star Wars Episode I: Racers

When it comes to racing games, there are only so many vehicles that can be used. But science fiction blows this concept wide open. In terms of Star Wars, that means using podracers from Episode I.

Related: Best PS1 Racing Games

These podracers move extremely fast, much faster than cars, so it's definitely a more intense experience than a simple car racing game. Plus, the game allows players to customize and upgrade their podracers, which definitely gives a feel similar to doing the same with a ride in Gran Turismo.

Hydro Thunder

People tend to think race car drivers are crazy for doing something so completely dangerous. However, boat racing is even more insane, and that's the whole premise behind Hydro Thunder. Gran Turismo takes a very grounded and realistic approach to its racing and its cars.

Because boat racing can be so dangerous in real life, it's often toned down. Hydro Thunder has no qualms about bucking realism in favor of intense boat racing action. It's a very fun game that holds up surprisingly well today.

F-Zero is a video game classic and resonated with fans of really fast racers early on. It is pretty much a car racing game except with a very futuristic and sci-fi edge to it. Its cars don't have wheels. Rather, they hover. Also, while the cars certainly have a lot of the spotlight, the drivers are characters in and of themselves that also shine pretty brightly.

Gran Turismo tends the limit how much attention its drivers get, so F-Zero is definitely a departure on that front for fans who might find it appealing.

Of course, it's extremely hard to make a list of racing games without including Mario Kart . In many ways, Mario Kart is everything that Gran Turismo isn't. It features popular fictional characters driving go-karts and shooting items at each other while driving around imaginary race tracks.

Related: Best PlayStation 1 Games Ever Made

However, Mario Kart has become such a staple in not just the world of racing games but the world of gaming entirely that it's hard to ignore. Even Gran Turismo fans can find something to enjoy about the franchise.

Besides featuring awesome vehicles, another great part about racing games is the various locations where these races take place in. Fantasy locations are always fun, but there's something special about grounding the races in the real world, which is what Gran Turismo specializes in.

However, the Cruis'n series makes it a priority. It originally started as an arcade game that eventually got ported for console releases. It's had several different installments over the years, but they each prioritize bringing players to unique locations around the globe.

Project Gotham Racing

In many ways, Project Gotham Racing was the reciprocal racing series for the Xbox that Gran Turismo is for the PlayStation. They both put an emphasis on a lot of the same things. They both ground their games in a very realistic setting and feature real-life cars rather than anything fictional.

PGR also has a stunt point system that promotes style and flare alongside speed and strategy. The series had a bit of a hiccup after its developer was bought out, but it still remains a great part of the early Xbox era.

Need For Speed

Need For Speed is a series that has remained consistently strong since its first release way back in 1994. Like similar games on the list, it focuses on grounded realism for its gameplay rather than any fantastical cars or vehicles.

Related: Best Street Racing Games

But it does lean more towards illegal street racing whereas most games have a more formal system around their racing structure. The game has become such a success it's branched off into other media including Hot Wheels toys and a film adaptation years before Gran Turismo's.

As Project Gotham kind of faded away as the XBox's main racing game, Forza took its place. The Forza series is essentially divided into two different types of games. Forza Motorsport is primarily a racing game that takes inspiration from both real and fictional elements.

Forza Horizon is also a racing game, but it gives players a lot more freedom in an open-world setting. It even has a little bit of a story to its structure that provides a more rounded atmosphere. For fans of Gran Turismo, there is no Xbox competition quite like what Forza offers .

Next: Best N64 Racing Games

10 Games You Should Play If You Love Gran Turismo

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Watch the first trailer for the Gran Turismo movie with Orlando Bloom
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Gran Turismo (movie)
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Gran Turismo

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Gran Turismo (film)
Gran Turismo 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 racing simulation video game series of the same name developed by Polyphony Digital.It tells the true story of British teenager Jann Mardenborough, a teenage ...
Gran Turismo (2023)
Gran Turismo: Directed by Neill Blomkamp. With David Harbour, Orlando Bloom, Archie Madekwe, Takehiro Hira. Based on the unbelievable, inspiring true story of a team of underdogs - a struggling, working-class gamer, a failed former race car driver, and an idealistic motorsport exec - who risk it all to take on the most elite sport in the world.
Gran Turismo movie review & film summary (2023)
Advertisement. "Gran Turismo" is an uncommon yet familiar biopic, a video game-inspired narrative with unique strengths and recurrent weaknesses. For one, as Mardenborough likes to say, the property the film takes inspiration from isn't a game; it's a simulator. Players can customize vehicles to startling specific details through a ...
GRAN TURISMO
From GAMER to RACER. #GranTurismoMovie is based on the incredible true story. 🏁 Exclusively in theaters August. Watch the trailer now. Visit our site: https...
Gran Turismo: Based on a True Story
Rated: 3.5/5 • Feb 2, 2024. Rated: C- • Jan 18, 2024. Based on the true story of Jann Mardenborough, the film is the ultimate wish fulfillment tale of a teenage Gran Turismo player whose ...
Gran Turismo: Based on a True Story Trailer #1 (2023)
Check out the Official Gran Turismo: Based on a True Story trailer starring Archie Madekwe! Buy Tickets on Fandango: https://www.fandango.com/gran-turismo-2...
GRAN TURISMO
Gran Turismo is based on the unbelievable true story of a team of unlikely underdogs - a struggling working-class gamer (Archie Madekwe), a failed former racecar driver (David Harbour), and an idealistic motorsport executive (Orlando Bloom).Together, they risk it all to take on the most elite sport in the world. Gran Turismo is an inspiring, thrilling, and action-packed story that proves ...
Gran Turismo movie set for release in 2023, has a plot
Sony Pictures has announced a released date of Aug. 11, 2023 for the film, which is called simply Gran Turismo and is set to be directed by District 9 's Neill Blomkamp. According to Deadline ...
Gran Turismo: Based on a True Story
Available on Apple TV. Gran Turismo is based on the unbelievable true story of a team of unlikely underdogs - a struggling working-class gamer (Archie Madekwe), a failed former racecar driver (David Harbour), and an idealistic motorsport executive (Orlando Bloom). Together, they risk it all to take on the most elite sport in the world.
Gran Turismo
Watch the new trailer for Gran Turismo, opening at Regal theatres on August 11. Gran Turismo is based on the unbelievable true story of a team of unlikely un...
Gran Turismo movie story trailer shares more about its real ...
Gran Turismo movie's new trailer takes us further into its real-life story. Meet Jann Mardenborough, whose racing career really did begin with the video game. By Owen S. Good May 2, 2023, 9:05am ...
Sony's Gran Turismo film hits theaters in August 2023
Sony's upcoming Gran Turismo film is scheduled for release on August 11th, 2023, according to a new report from Deadline. Neill Blomkamp is set to direct the movie, which is based on a true story.
Gran Turismo film review
The storytelling may be cut-and-paste hero's journey, but as a sensory experience it's reasonably impressive — a sound and vision extravaganza that puts you in the driver's seat, just like ...
Gran Turismo Ending Explained
Gran Turismo is the incredible true story of Jann Mardenborough's journey from a player of the titular game to a professional motorsport racer and here is everything you need to know about the film's ending. The film begins with Orlando Bloom's Danny Moore, a marketing executive at Nissan, pitching an idea to the heads of the company. Moore's idea centered around reinvigorating the love of ...
'Gran Turismo' movie fact check: Is Jann Mardenborough film accurate?
Yes. Here's a full fact-check of the film. While the market dominance of movies plucked from the superhero realm remains undisputed, Hollywood is finding a way to make money off another pop ...
Gran Turismo (2023)
Manager: Film Music, Sony Pictures Tristan Linton ... Recording Engineer Helen Lynch ... Additional Sonic Sound and Music Design Lukas Lützow ... Pro Tools Operator Joris de Man ... Additional Sonic Sound and Music Design Bernd Mazagg ... score mixed by David Metzner ... music editor
The Ending Of Gran Turismo Explained
Sony Pictures Releasing. The film ending on Jann Mardenborough's legendary performance at the 24 Hours of Le Mans actually holds more meaning to the film and the wider racing world. At the start ...
Where to Watch the 'Gran Turismo,' 2023 Movie Online
When the time comes to stream Gran Turismo on Netflix, viewers will need to register with the site first. The site offers a number of plans to opt into, the lowest of which starts at $6.99 per ...
The True Story of 'Gran Turismo' and Driver Jann Mardenborough
Whereas his father, Steve, was a former professional soccer player, Jann dreamed of holding a steering wheel from an early age. He grew up in Cardiff, Wales, and when he went to a local go-kart ...
"Gran Turismo" and "Fremont," Reviewed
Anthony Lane reviews "Gran Turismo," Neill Blomkamp's video-game adaptation, starring Archie Madekwe, David Harbour, and Orlando Bloom, and "Fremont," Babak Jalali's drama about an ...
GRAN TURISMO
Based on the inspiring true story of an impossible dream, watch this exclusive sneak peek of #GranTurismoMovie. 🏁 Exclusively in movie theaters this summer...
Gran Turismo
Gran Turismo the video game turned into a solid movie, who would have guessed? It's based on a true story about turning Playstation gamers into actual racecar drivers, and overall it has a satisfying character arc that keeps you engaged and entertained. The classic underdog story! I think the beginning was a little clunky and slow at times, but ...
Gran Turismo Coverage
The latest Gran Turismo breaking news, comment, reviews and features from the experts at Gamesradar
'Gran Turismo 7' State of Play will reveal new footage this week
A Gran Turismo 7 State of Play is coming on Wednesday and it promises just over 30 minutes of new PlayStation 5 footage.. READ MORE: 10 games to look forward to in 2022 Sony revealed the news on a ...
Cannes Competition Title 'Grand Tour' Debuts Trailer
Miguel Gomes' 'Grand Tour,' which will have its world premiere in Cannes Film Festival's Competition section, debuts trailer.
GRAN TURISMO
THIS. ACTUALLY. HAPPENED. See the INSANE TRUE STORY of #GranTurismoMovie exclusively in movie theaters August 25. Get your speeding tix at https://www.grantu...
You Can Buy The Audi R8 GT3 That Starred In The Gran Turismo Film
This Audi R8 racer had a colorful livery for the film. No history has been provided about the Audi's previous racing past. All Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo models have a 5.2-liter V10 capped at 500 hp ...
Anthony Scaramucci Hosting 'The Rest Is Politics' U.S ...
He has previously served as the President of the Jury at the Sarajevo Film Festival in 2016 and is currently an artistic advisor for the Doha Film Institute. "With his trademark wit, humor and ...
10 Games You Should Play If You Love Gran Turismo
The game has become such a success it's branched off into other media including Hot Wheels toys and a film adaptation years before Gran Turismo's. Forza

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Gran Turismo movie’s new trailer takes us further into its real-life story

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Gran Turismo’s Le Mans Race & Jann’s Placement Explained

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How Gran Turismo’s Le Mans Race Compares To Real Life

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The Real Meaning Of Gran Turismo’s Ending Explained

Is the Gran Turismo movie based on a true story? Yes. Here's a full fact-check of the film

Did Nissan and Sony really sponsor a contest to see if a skilled video gamer could race a sports car?

Did Jann Mardenborough win the first Nissan GT Challenge?

Did Jann Mardenborough really come in third at Le Mans?

Did Jann Mardenborough almost die in a crash in Germany?

Did Archie Madekwe do his own stunt driving in ‘Gran Turismo’?

Was Jann Mardenborough’s father really a soccer player?

Why does the actress playing Jann’s mother look familiar?

What cars do Jann Mardenborough and Archie Madekwe drive for real?

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