Gran Turismo: 6 lesser-known facts about the biographical sports drama

The highly-anticipated Neill Blomkamp sports drama Gran Turismo is set to release in India this weekend on the 25th of August. The film stars Archie Madekwe in the lead, with David Harbour, Orlando Bloom, and Geri Halliwell essaying pivotal characters in this high-octane motorsports drama. For this episode of Now You Know, we take a look at six lesser-known facts about Gran Turismo.

1. Even though the film is adapted from the hit PlayStation racing video game franchise Gran Turismo, the film is inspired by the true story of Jann Mardenborough. Mardenborough an avid Gran Turismo player, went on to become a professional race car driver after winning an eSports tournament conducted by the video game company and Nissan.
2. Did you also know that Jann Mardenborough makes an appearance in his own biopic? As it turns out, he plays the stunt double for the actor, Archie Madekwe, who portrays Mardenborough’s character in Gran Turismo.
3. Former Spice Girls Geri Halliwell, who is popularly known as Ginger Spice, plays a pivotal role in the film. Coincidentally she also happens to have close ties to the world of motorsports in real life. Well, for one, she is married to Christian Horner, the team principal of the current Formula 1 World Champions Red Bull Racing.
4. Several of the film’s characters are inspired by real individuals. For instance, Orlando Bloom's character, Danny Moore, is based on Darren Cox, a former Nissan Europe executive who was instrumental in founding the GT Academy. The academy helped PlayStation find gamers who could become professional racing drivers like Jann Mardenborough. Similarly, Pepe Barroso's character Antonio Cruz is inspired by Lucas Ordoñez, the Spanish racing gamer and the inaugural GT Academy winner. While Darren Barnet's Matty Davis is inspired by Brian Heitkotter, who was the winner of the GT Academy in 2011 alongside Mardenborough. However, Stranger Things star David Harbour's character Jack Salteri is inspired by a mix of several real-life characters.
5. The film premiered at the iconic Belgian racing track called the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps or Spa on July 30, 2023, during this year’s Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix. Formula One World Champions Max Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton, and Fernando Alonso, were among those in attendance at Spa this year.
6. Director Neill Blomkamp, who is best known for helming the critically-acclaimed sci-fi film District 9, was previously attached to direct another video game adaptation. In the 2000s, Blomkamp was roped in to direct the adaptation of Halo, Microsoft’s best-selling video game at the time along with Peter Jackson serving as producer. However, the film was eventually shelved due to issues surrounding creative control. Halo was eventually made into a TV series in 2022 by Paramount Studios.

Well that's all for this episode of Now you know, until the next time it's your host Nikhil signing out.

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• Written by Ryan Gomez

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