At CES 2023, Sony unveiled a new behind-the-scenes trailer for the movie Gran Turismo. The trailer showcases some of the high-speed cars, video game-like cinematography, and some of the actors behind the film. An adaptation of Gran Turismo may seem confusing for some, considering that the 25-year-old racing simulator isn't known to have a robust in-game story. However, the real-world story outside the game that the movie is based on may actually be more interesting than most fans may realize.
Gran Turismo is being directed by Neill Blomkamp of District9, Elysium, and Chappie acclaim. It also stars David Harbour of Stranger Things, as well as Orlando Bloom from the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. The trailer revealed at CES 2023 features a tagline at the end that says, "based on the true story of an impossible dream." What this and the rest of the trailer show is that the movie will be covering the career and origin story of Jann Mardenborough, who became a real motorsport driver by playing Gran Turismo as a young kid and competing in GT Academy.
Jann Mardenborough's Journey in GT Academy
After competing in GT Academy, Mardenborough became known as the gamer-turned-racer among those in the sport. Originating in 2008, GT Academy was an international competition brought on by Nissan and Polyphony Digital, the developer of Gran Turismo. While no longer running, GT Academy gave Gran Turismo players a chance to get inside real cars and compete for a chance to be on Nissan's racing team. It also helped give them the necessary training and licensing to race in international events.
In 2011, Mardenborough beat out 90,000 other competitors in online trials for GT Academy. After an intense week at Race Camp, he went on to the finals held at Silverstone Circuit in the United Kingdom, where he would emerge the champion. Six months later, he earned his international racing licenses, which normally takes about three years for others. Mardenborough became the youngest winner of GT Academy at the age of 19. Before GT Academy, he had never set foot in a race car, but seven months later, Mardenborough found himself competing in the Dubai 24 Hour race.
Later on in his career, Mardenborough competed in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2013, where he would place third in the LMP2 class. While the transition from simulation to reality and vice versa might seem daunting to some, Mardenborough found it to be completely normal. In a 2012 interview with The Guardian, Mardenborough commented on how he had never power-steered a car before and had only power-steered in games like Gran Turismo, but that doing it in the real world felt completely natural.
While some may have been perplexed at the speed of Mardenborough's achievements, Mardenborough's mentor explains how his background may have helped. Rob Jenkinson, Mardenborough's mentor, explained in the same interview that those of a traditional racing background may pick up bad habits that take years to correct. But because the GT Academy graduates were young, inexperienced, and teachable, they could learn to correct their mistakes quickly.
In celebration of Gran Turismo's 25-year anniversary, game producer Kazunori Yamauchi reported that Gran Turismo has a cumulative sales total of over 90 million copies as of November 16, 2022. Even with the sales numbers, the Gran Turismo series is most likely not the first choice most gamers would pick to make a movie adaptation. However, Mardenborough's career and the story of GT Academy could show moviegoers how video game technology is continuously evolving to blur the line between virtual and reality.
The Gran Turismo movie is set to hit theaters on August 11, 2023.