Sony is raring its engines early as they reveal the first Gran Turismo story details and its release date. The studio behind the racing video game franchise has been working on developing a film adaptation for nearly a decade now, first kicking off in 2013 with Michael De Luca and Dana Brunetti producing. Development on the Gran Turismo movie would largely remain quiet, with Top Gun: Maverick's Joseph Kosinski at one point attached to co-write and director with Alex Tse.
It was confirmed in 2018 that Kosinski's incarnation of Gran Turismo wouldn't be moving forward, leaving the property's big screen chances in doubt as the Fast and Furious franchise continues to dominate the car-based genre in theaters. Sony would later take to reigniting development on multiple Gran Turismo adaptations, including a TV show for an unknown platform and a film with District 9's Neill Blomkamp attached to direct. The studio now looks to have a lot of confidence in one of its Gran Turismo projects as it gears up its video game roster.
Just a few weeks after the film was first announced to be in the works, The Wrap has brought word that Sony has set the Gran Turismo movie release date. The Neill Blomkamp-helmed adaptation will be hitting theaters on August 11, 2023, with the studio also revealing story details for the film. Gran Turismo will be based on a true story as a teenage player of the game wins a series of Nissan competitions and eventually becomes an actual professional race car driver.
Though a specific person wasn't named in the Gran Turismo movie story details, the film looks to be basing itself around the real-life GT Academy run by Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, Polyphony Digital and Nissan Europe that ran from 2008-16. The now-defunct program took players who won National Finals competitions from around the world and sent them to a race camp held at Silverstone, United Kingdom, where the final winner would undergo an intense training program leading to them becoming professional drivers in races around the world. Though multiple winners have gone on to win major racing competitions, the British GT would bar four GT Academy drivers from entering in races due to a lack of real-world experience compared to other racers.
Taking this angle for the Gran Turismo movie is sure to mark a more interesting approach to adapting the racing video game, which relatively has no plot and risked alienating both fans and newcomers alike by trying to develop an original story for the film. The Gran Turismo adaptation marks the latest project in PlayStation Productions' ever-growing roster of adaptations, which began with this year's Uncharted and is set to continue with The Last of Us series at HBO, a God of War series at Prime Video, a Twisted Metal series at Peacock, a Horizon series at Netflix and Ghost of Tsushima movie. Audiences will have to keep their eyes peeled for further details leading up to Gran Turismo's August 11, 2023 release.
Source: The Wrap