Gran Turismo Movie Trailer Hits The Web, Releases Aug 11

Having celebrated its landmark quarter-century anniversary recently, the Gran Turismo driving game franchise is set for further expansion, this time onto the silver screens. Announced back in May last year, the Gran Turismo Movie will be released in August this year according to distributors Sony.

At the recent Consumer Electronics Show 2023 (CES 2023), Sony took the opportunity and presented a special trailer and sneak peek of the movie. The production has several A-list stars on its bill both behind and in front of the camera.

Directing the film is South African filmmaker Neil Blomkamp who’s renowned for huge box office sci-fi hits such as District 9, Elysium, and Chappie. Besides that, the cast includes Orlando Bloom and David Harbour, the former famed for his starring roles in both the Pirates of The Carribbean and Lord of The Rings fantasy franchises, the latter from hit Netflix series Stranger Things.

Bloom and Harbour aside, the film’s central protagonist will be portrayed by Archie Madekwe, who will play Jann Mardenborough – a professional British racing driver who was also the youngest winner of the Nissan GT Academy e-sport competition. The Gran Turismo Movie will be based on Mardenborough's racing career, which began through playing racing video games.

During the film’s presentation at CES 2023, director Blomkamp discussed the advantages of shooting the film using Sony Venice 2 cameras with the Rialto extension system. These allowed the production to harness IMAX resolution cameras in tiny spaces, including filming on board race machines such as a Le Mans prortotype racer that has very small cockpit areas.

Notably, the latter Rialto extension also allowed Blomkamp and his team to recreate popular angles from the Gran Turismo video game itself, namely its famed third-person view from behind the vehicle, as well as its famed grille shots. Some of this was also showcased in the trailer, along with messages from Bloom, Harbour, and Madekwe as part of their efforts in building anticipation for the film.

Set for release and distribution by Sony, the Gran Turismo Movie will hit theatres worldwide starting from Aug 11 this year. Furthermore, it stands as the first of 10 Sony Playstation games set for film adaptation under the Playstation Productions banner – a la Uncharted.