The trailers for Gran Turismo raised excitement for the film which follows the life of a Gran Turismo sim racer who dreams of being a professional racer. However, financial limitations block his progression into the sport.
Gran Turismo, directed by Neill Blomkamp is based on the story of real-life driver Jann Mardenborough, a British professional racing driver whose 12-year career has taken him to the 24 Hours of Le Mans and Japan’s Super GT series.
Mardenborough’s career began in 2011 at the Gran Turismo Academy, a PlayStation 3 competition where he beat more than 90,000 entrants to win a seat with Nissan in the Dubai 24 Hour. Despite no serious real-life motorsports experience, Mardenborough placed third in his class at the endurance event.
Archie Madekwe stars as Mardenborough, with Geri Halliwell Horner — also known as Ginger Spice, and wife of Formula 1 Red Bull Racing team principal Christian Horner — as his mother, Lesley Mardenborough. Djimon Hounsou headlines the cast as Mardenborough’s father, Steve, an English footballer of some renown during the 1980s and 1990s. David Harbour and Orlando Bloom also star.
Jann stated that “I want to show people that you don’t have to have lots of money stashed away, with rich parents or know somebody in the sport to fund your karting career or your single-seater career. You can be a normal person who just loves racing games, loves car games, lives motorsport, is a petrolhead and there is a route for you that you can take if you’re successful at it or if you are good at it, you can achieve great things. My desire for this movie would to be a catalyst for anybody young or old to have the courage to seek out there passions and purposes. If that be motorsport, cool. If something else also cool.”
The film is further proof of the simulator to real life racing model which Kimura Racing prides itself in and will continue to do so.
Gran Turismo will premiere in theatres on the 11th August.
