Gran Turismo, Kazunori Yamauchi and Polyphony Digital’s eminent driving and racing game series with a presence on every PlayStation console since 1997, is getting its own movie adaptation by way of Sony Pictures. The same studio that brought Tom Holland’s Uncharted movie to life is once again teaming up with PlayStation Productions to finally move the ball forward on the long-rumored Gran Turismo project. But it might not be what fans are expecting.

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Neill Blomkamp, whose creative flair helped bring to life such unique films as District 9 and Chappie, is occupying the director’s chair for the Gran Turismo movie. Under the banner of Columbia Pictures, he’ll be joined by screenwriter Jason Hall, whose credits include 2014’s American Sniper. It sounds like an all-star pool of talent behind the camera, to be sure. But what sort of story can audiences expect to see adapted from a racing game?

Well, it turns out the plot will be a bit more meta than other video game movie adaptations, and will actually be based on a true story. The film will reportedly follow a teenage Gran Turismo player whose skills at the game help pave the way to a career as a genuine professional race car driver. Apparently, while other racing games like Need For Speed have tried the straight adaptation approach, Gran Turismo wants to try something new, and it might just work.

Similar to The Wizard, which also tells a story revolving around existing video games (and possibly succeeds, depending on who’s being asked), it appears as though Gran Turismo’s goal is to have the game serve as a storytelling device rather than the template for the whole movie. It makes sense, of course, since the series doesn’t exactly lean into any sort of narrative. The Gran Turismo games earned their reputation through realistic graphics and similarly authentic racing physics, as well as uncanny attention to detail.

There’s only so much that can be done with that on the big screen, so the filmmakers behind it are smart to use the game in this way. Whether or not they can pull it off has yet to be seen, but basing it on a true story already gives the production a good leg to start with.

Gran Turismo is set to release on August 11th, 2023.

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Source: Deadline