Gran Turismo (film)

Gran Turismo is a film based on the Gran Turismo series of video games, specifically the GT Academy competition and Jann Mardenborough's career. Directed by Neill Blomkamp and starring David Harbour, Orlando Bloom, Archie Madekwe, Darren Barnet, Geri Halliwell Horner, and Djimon Hounsou, it was released on August 11, 2023 in the United Kingdom and on August 25 in the United States. A special screening also took during the 2023 Gran Turismo World Series Showdown weekend, along with various early bird screenings worldwide.
== Plot ==
Following a pitch by marketing executive Danny Moore, Nismo, the motorsport division of Nissan establishes the GT Academy to recruit skilled Gran Turismo players and turn them into the real racing drivers. Danny recruits former driver-turned-mechanic Jack Salter to train the players. Jack is initially hesitant but accepts after tiring of the arrogance of his team's driver, Nicholas Capa. Meanwhile, Jann Mardenborough, a teenage retail employee and gamer from Cardiff, Wales, is an avid player of the simulator and wants to become a racing driver, despite the disapproval of his former footballer father Steve.
One day, Jann learns he is eligible for a qualification race to join the GT Academy after setting a time record for a particular track. The night before his race, Jann is invited by his brother Coby to a party, and the brothers take their father's car. Jann flirts with a young woman called Audrey. The gathering is disbanded after police arrive, and Jann initiates a pursuit after driving away when their friends are pulled over. The brothers escape but are caught returning by their father. Jann is taken to his father's place of employment the next morning in an attempt to be taught a life lesson, but leaves early to partake in the qualifying race, which he wins, earning a place in GT Academy.
At the academy camp, Jack puts the competitors through their paces in various tests, through which ten competitors are narrowed down to five. During one of which, Jann crashes with Jack in the car and claims the brakes were glazed, later proven correct by analysts, to Jack's surprise. The remaining five compete in a final race to determine who will represent Nissan. Jann narrowly wins the race against American competitor Matty Davis, but Danny insists Matty should be chosen as the representative due to his better commercial viability. However, Jann is chosen at Jack's insistence.
Jann is told that if he finishes at least fourth in any one of a series of qualifying races, he will earn a professional FIA license and contract with Nissan. He finishes last in his first professional race at Red Bull Ring after Nicholas taps him into a spin, and despite gradually improving over the next few races, he does not finish the penultimate race. He travels to Dubai for his last qualifying race, during which Nicholas takes a corner too fast and crashes. Despite the debris from this crash cracking his windshield, Jann achieves a fourth-place finish and earns his license. He then travels to Tokyo with Danny and Jack to sign his contract, and uses his signing bonus to fly his crush Audrey to Tokyo. During this time, they initiate a relationship.
Jann's first race after the contract signing is at the Nürburgring. He starts the race well and maintains a high position until the front of his car lifts into the air at the Flugplatz corner, hitting a barrier and launching into a crowded spectator area. Jann is airlifted to the Nürburgring Medical Center and is informed while in hospital that a spectator was killed in the crash, much to his horror. Reluctant to return to racing and blaming himself for the spectator's death, Jack takes him back to the Nürburgring, during which he reveals he was involved in a fatal accident at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, which led to a fellow driver dying and his retirement from driving. An inquiry clears Jann of any wrongdoing, but professional sentiment begins to turn against sim drivers. In response, Danny decides a sim driver team should compete at Le Mans and finish on the podium to prove their viability.
Danny enlists Matty and fellow GT Academy participant Antonio Cruz to make up the three-driver team alongside Jann. On race day, Jann's father apologises for not initially being supportive of his passions. Early in the race, Jann is left shaken after another competitor's car crashes and catches fire, but is encouraged through his first shift by Jack playing "Songbird" and "Orinoco Flow" through the car's communication system, which Jann had previously used as motivational music during training. Matty and Antonio complete their first shifts without issue, but the latter is brought in from his last session early due to experiencing cramps. A wheel nut breaks loose in the pit area, causing Jann to lose several positions. He deviates from advised racing lines he learned from playing Gran Turismo to regain his positions, breaking the competition lap record in the process. The final lap sees Jann pitted against Nicholas, with Jann once again narrowly in front on the final straight to earn third place and a podium finish for Nissan.
In the epilogue, the real Jann Mardenborough is shown having competed in over 200 races and served as his own stunt double in the film.
==Trailer==
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Category:Other Media