David Harbour Compares His GRAN TURISMO Movie to TOP GUN: MAVERICK

Director Neill Blomkamp’s Gran Turismo looks like it’s going to be a great flick, and the film has actually been getting a good amount of positive buzz. The film tells the true story of Jann Mardenborough, a teenage Gran Turismo gamer who ended up becoming a professional race car driver.

When making the movie, the director wanted audiences to be immersed in the high-speed race car scene. He wanted them to make the movie-going experience feel real. During a recent interview with Total Film, one of the film’s stars, David Harbour, compared the movie to Top Gun: Maverick in that way. He said:

"What’s right is Archie in the [car], super-uncomfortable, with high Gs, nausea, at 200km an hour… So it’s a fair comparison. I don’t know what [Maverick director] Joseph Kosinski’s like, but I’m sure he wanted the same thing. We just need to make it feel real." 

Harbour went on to say that he hopes the movie does as well as Top Gun: Maverick:

"I certainly hope we do as well as Top Gun: Maverick. But I made that comparison myself. I think there’s somewhat of a throwback quality to that film’s pace, and to what that film is doing, and there is to us as well. I feel like we are very related to that, and are in the same family as them." 

The film has been described as “the ultimate wish fulfillment tale of a teenage Gran Turismo player whose gaming skills won a series of Nissan competitions to become an actual professional racecar driver.” Jann was able to translate his impressive Gran Turismo gaming skills into real life through a series of Nissan competitions, resulting in him becoming a professional race car driver.

When talking about the movie, Blomkamp said: “It’s real actors, in real cars, on real race tracks, driving insanely quickly. The north star for me was to make a videogame title with character work that propels the movie, even more so than the racing. Although the racing is bloody intense, too.”

The movie features a great ensemble cast that includes Orlando Bloom set to star in the film along with Archie Madekwe. The cast also includes Djimon Hounsou (Shazam!), Geri Halliwell-Horner (Six Underground), Daniel Puig (Naomi), Maeve Courtier-Lilley (The Outpost), Emelia Hartford (A Hollywood Christmas), Pepe Barroso (High Seas), and Sang Heon Lee (XO, Kitty).

Blomkamp is directing from a script by Jason Hall and Zach Baylin, with PlayStation Productions’ Asad Qizilbash and Carter Swan producing alongside Doug Belgrad and Dana Brunetti.

Game creator Kazunori Yamauchi and Hall are executive producing the film, which Sony Pictures will release in theaters on August 11, 2023.