"Gran Turismo" film trailer: Climber story with a true core?
3.5.2023
Translation: machine translated
The first trailer for the "Gran Turismo" film is here and gives us more details about the story of the game adaptation. It was already known that the film would be about GT Academy winner Jann Mardenborough. Now the trailer provides more images and the first scenes from the film, which will be released in cinemas in August.
"If you miss the racing line in the game, you simply reset the score. If you miss it on the racetrack, you could die," Jack Salter, the protagonist's trainer, played by David Harbour ("Stranger Things"), makes clear right at the beginning of the trailer. What then follows are lots of car racing scenes - virtual and real - and the implied "from rags to riches" story. And gamer clichés.
A lot of gamer clichés.
An Academy participant vomits on the racetrack. Anyone who games is unsportsmanlike. The only female participant with dyed hair enters the Academy. Gamers all have coloured hair. After an accident, coach Salter asks if you get extra points for that in the game. Gamer jokes don't get much flatter than that. The whole thing is rounded off with lots of product placement for Sony, Nissan and Moet & Chandon.
Source: Sony Pictures / Youtube
And yet, as a gamer, long-time "Gran Turismo" aficionado and racing fan, I am very excited. Because if you look closely at the trailer, you can already draw some conclusions about the film. Let's go through the details.
What's the story about?
When film studio marketing advertises "Based on a True Story", the word "loosely" is usually missing from the sentence. Take "Cool Runnings", for example. Yes, there were the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary. Yes, a Jamaican bobsleigh team took part there. And yes, the team crashed. But the rest of the film is pure fiction.
In "Gran Turismo", screenwriters Jason Hall, Zach Baylin and Erich Hoeber don't take the truth too seriously either. Jann Mardenborough was the winner of the third GT Academy, a competition in which you could qualify for a real motorsport training programme online via Gran Turismo. And yes, since then the real Jann Mardenborough has actually been driving in racing series around the globe and living the dream of being a racing driver. But only with modest success. Since a mediocre career that began in 2011 no longer interests anyone today, director Neill Blomkamp ('District 9', 'Elysium') has apparently even brought the story into the new decade: GT Academy takes place on the Playstation 5, which was launched in 2020. In real life, the last GT Academy was held in 2015, so is the trailer spoiling a new GT Academy?
Source: Sony Pictures / Youtube
Fantastic vehicle fleet
The cars shown in the trailer are also modern models, such as the
Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo, which was used for the first time in 2019. In an earlier sneak peak, a McLaren 720S GT3 was also shown. However, I was particularly surprised by a Nissan vehicle in the trailer, which, as far as I know, has never been seen before.
Source: Sony Pictures / Youtube
It appears to be a Le Mans prototype in the LMP1 class, which makes sense. After all, Jann Mardenborough was behind the wheel in Nissan's last appearance in the LMP1 class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2015. The race ended in a complete debacle for Nissan: in qualifying, the fastest of the three Nissan cars lost more than 20 seconds on pole position. Two of the three cars failed to finish the race due to technical faults - including the number 23, in which Mardenborough provided part of the driver trio. Only one Nissan car crossed the finish line after 24 hours, but was not counted as it did not reach the required 70 per cent of the distance covered by the winning car.
Will Nissan drive LMP1 again?
The Nissan LMP1 shown in the trailer, however, has a completely different chassis to the Nissan GT-R LM Nismo from 2015. Aerodynamic elements can be seen on the side, for example, and the headlights are narrower than in the original. Director Blomkamp has probably come full circle to the 2020s here. The LMP1 class has been history at Le Mans since last year. It has given way to the new hypercar class. A class in which Nissan has not yet entered a car. Perhaps this is the creative freedom to ensure that "Gran Turismo" ends with a victory at Le Mans and not in a debacle like the 2015 Nissan season.
We'll know in August whether the film itself ends in a debacle. I'll certainly watch the film, with some scepticism, and not just because of the gamer clichés. As a fan of endurance racing, I want to know whether the excitement and wear and tear of the GT and WEC series will come across or whether the film is just "loosely based on a true racing series".
Cinema release is on 10 August.
Until then, you can channel your inner Jann Mardenborough with the latest "Gran Turismo" game.
Cover image: Screenshot: Sony Pictures / Youtube
Simon Balissat
Teamleader Editorial
Simon.Balissat@digitecgalaxus.chWhen I flew the family nest over 15 years ago, I suddenly had to cook for myself. But it wasn’t long until this necessity became a virtue. Today, rattling those pots and pans is a fundamental part of my life. I’m a true foodie and devour everything from junk food to star-awarded cuisine. Literally. I eat way too fast.