Video game adaptations have become a major trend in Hollywood, following the success of movies like The Super Mario Bros. Movie, Uncharted, and The Last Of Us. However, when Neill Blomkamp was approached by Sony to direct a film based on the realistic racing game series Gran Turismo, he was initially perplexed.
“I was so confused that I almost wanted to read the screenplay just to understand what they were talking about because it just made no sense to me,” he told AFP. “Obviously, it’s just a racing simulator.”
Indeed, the Gran Turismo games lack the recognizable characters that lend themselves to a straightforward adaptation. As a result, the movie took a different approach, primarily based on a marketing stunt from 2008.
Sony and Nissan organized the GT Academy, a competition in which top Gran Turismo gamers had the opportunity to test their skills on real racetracks. This initiative took gamers out of their bedrooms and put them behind the wheel of actual racecars. The winners were then given the chance to compete against professional drivers on renowned tracks like Silverstone and Le Mans.
Jann Mardenborough, a working-class teenager from Darlington, England, who successfully transitioned from GT Academy gamer to real-life racer, is the central figure in the movie.
“I was struck by the idea of it being a biography, but also a video game film,” said Blomkamp. “And the video game would exist as an element within that real world — the way that Gran Turismo exists in our world.”
Emotional Heft
Reviews for the film have been mixed. The Guardian labeled it an “ode to product placement,” while others praised its surprising emotional depth, particularly in its portrayal of a tragic accident involving Mardenborough.
In 2015, at Germany’s Nurburgring circuit, Mardenborough’s car flipped vertically into the air and crashed through a fence, resulting in the death of a spectator and injuries to others. Mardenborough was cleared of any blame, but the movie suggests that racing purists who disliked his background as a gamer continued to doubt him. Handling the incident with sensitivity was crucial, especially because Mardenborough acted as his own stunt double in the film.
“You can’t tell his story without including that accident. It’s an integral part of his journey,” said Blomkamp. However, he acknowledged that the crash is “super sensitive” for Mardenborough.
While Mardenborough performed various driving stunts for the film, the decision was made to recreate the fatal crash using “effectively 100 percent digital” technology. The crash itself was famous and unique, with the car soaring vertically over a steep, undulating hill.
“We attempted to recreate the exact movements of the car, pixel by pixel, based on video footage,” explained Blomkamp. Using visual effects for this scene eliminated the need for physical stunts.
Strikes and Hype
The ongoing strikes in Hollywood have posed additional challenges for the film. Actors such as Orlando Bloom, David Harbour, and Archie Madekwe are unable to promote the movie at typical premieres and junkets due to the walkout. In response, Sony has chosen to delay the film’s theatrical release from this Friday to August 25. In the meantime, they are offering early sneak previews to fans in the hopes of generating word-of-mouth hype.
“The stars may not be able to promote the movie, but the audience can,” stated a Sony spokesperson.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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