Stranger Things and Black Widow star David Harbour has been announced as having a part in the upcoming Gran Turismo movie project that was announced in June 2022.
The Gran Turismo movie is set to be an adaptation of the PlayStation-exclusive video game titles of the same name, which hold the distinction of being PlayStation's highest-selling video game franchise with 85 million units sold over 25 years and 6 consoles. While the games focus heavily on giving a simulation-style driving experience, the movie will instead be a more story-driven project with a close relationship to the best-selling game series.
The movie is reportedly based on the real-life story of a gifted Gran Turismo video game player who earns an opportunity to live his dream and become a real-life race car driver after winning a series of Nissan-sponsored competitions. Harbour will play the role of a retired driver who prepares the protagonist for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity by teaching him to drive, suggesting a prominent role in the upcoming film. Borys Kit of The Hollywood Reporter broke the announcement to generally positive responses. The news comes on the heels of the star rounding off filming his Santa Clause role for Universal's Violent Night.
This project comes in the aftermath of Sony and PlayStation's successful adaptation of Uncharted, which spurred more adaptation projects that include other properties like a Ghost of Tsushima movie and a television series based on Twisted Metal. Described as the ultimate wish fulfillment tale, the upcoming movie is stacked with firm hands backstage, including prominent science fiction director Neill Blomkamp at the film's helm. Gran Turismo video game series creator Kazunori Yamauchi will also be involved as an executive producer along with Jason Hall. The latter is responsible for the script in collaboration with King Richard screenwriter Zach Baylin, while the primary producer role will be filled by Doug Belgrad and Dana Brunetti, as well as PlayStation Production's Asad Qizilbash and Carter Swan.
Harbour, who WME and Sloane Offer represent, has recently entered firmly into the limelight with his roles in the hit Netflix series Stranger Things and the MCU's Black Widow, roles that he will be reprising in the final season of Stranger Things and Marvel Studios' Thunderbolts, respectively. This makes him a welcome addition to the Gran Turismo project, helping to bring more casual movie-goers to the niche video-game-based movie.
While the film looks to be well on its way to success, some core fans are skeptical of the project's intent, highlighting that the latest release from the video game series, Gran Turismo 7, is one of the most controversial installments in the series to date, with microtransaction problems and server issues plaguing its release. This is despite Gran Turismo 7 being one of the best video games of 2022, with the concern seeming to be that the film adaptation might indicate split attention at PlayStation.
Gran Turismo is set for a theatrical release on the 11th of August, 2023.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter