Neill Blomkamp's film turns Nissan's GT Academy into a true story of a teenage gamer who reached the podium at Le Mans, with mixed reviews and a $122.1 million gross.
Gran Turismo is a 2023 film directed by Neill Blomkamp that dramatises the rise of a teenage gamer into a professional racer through Nissan's GT Academy. Jann Mardenborough's story runs through qualifying races, a crash and a Le Mans podium. The film grossed $122.1 million worldwide.
Gran Turismo is a 2023 biographical sports drama directed by Neill Blomkamp and based on Polyphony Digital's sim racing video game series. It follows Jann Mardenborough, a British teenage gamer who became a professional racing driver through Nissan's GT Academy. The film grossed $122.1 million worldwide against a $60 million budget and received mixed reviews.
What is Gran Turismo about?
Following a pitch by Danny Moore, a marketing executive, Nissan sets up the GT Academy to find skilled players of the racing simulator and make them real drivers. Danny enlists Jack Salter, a former driver turned mechanic, to train them. Jack is reluctant at first, but he agrees once he tires of the attitude of Nicholas Capa, the arrogant driver on his team.
Meanwhile Jann, a teenage gamer from Cardiff, wants a racing career, though his father Steve disapproves. A record-setting time makes Jann eligible for the GT Academy, and the film then follows his path through the qualifying races.
A teenage gamer, a sim team and one podium at Le Mans, told with a film that ran into a storm of criticism.
How does Jann's home life affect the story?
Jann's father opposes his racing ambitions, and trouble starts on the night before his qualifying race. At a party the police arrive, and when Jann drives off from a stop he leads them on a chase and gets away. He returns home and tells his brother Coby that he will take the fall.
As punishment Jann is sent to his father's workplace, but he leaves early to take part in the qualifying race. He wins it, which secures his place in the GT Academy.
How does the GT Academy work in the film?
The academy begins with a camp where Jack puts the competitors through a range of tests, cutting the field from ten to five. Jann earns Jack's attention by working out why a wreck happened: the brakes had glazed.
The last five drivers race for the Nissan place. Jann edges out Matty Davis, an American, on the track, yet Danny favours Matty because of his marketing value. Jack refuses to drop Jann, and Jann is chosen to represent the brand.
How does Jann earn a professional licence?
A top-four finish in any qualifying race is enough to win a professional licence and a Nissan contract. His debut as a professional comes in Austria, where Capa's contact leaves him finishing last. He then fails to complete the second-to-last race, in Spain.
In Dubai, during his final qualifying race, Capa crashes. Despite debris damage, Jann finishes fourth and earns his licence. He travels to Tokyo with Danny and Jack to sign his contract, and he uses his bonus to fly Audrey to Tokyo, which begins their relationship.
What happens at the Nurburgring?
Jann's first race after signing takes place at the Nurburgring Nordschleife. He is running well up the order when his car lifts at the Flugplatz corner. The crash kills a spectator, and Jann, shaken, does not want to race again and holds himself responsible.
Jack has been through a similar accident at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and he urges Jann to get back in the car. An inquiry finds Jann blameless, yet the wider racing world turns against drivers from simulators. Danny's answer is to enter a team of sim drivers at Le Mans, with a podium finish as the proof they belong.
Who is in the cast?
Archie Madekwe stars as Jann, while David Harbour plays Jack Salter and Orlando Bloom plays Danny Moore, the Nissan marketing executive. Jann Mardenborough also appears as himself, serving as Madekwe's racing stunt double.
- Darren Barnet as Matty Davis, an American rival from the GT Academy
- Josha Stradowski as Nicholas Capa, the hot-headed main antagonist, based on Williams F1 driver Nicholas Latifi
- Thomas Kretschmann as Patrice Capa, founder and owner of Team CAPA
- Niall McShea as Frederik Schulin, a rival German driver for Audi
- Pepe Barroso as Antonio Cruz, a Spanish student driver loosely based on Lucas Ordonez
- Takehiro Hira as Kazunori Yamauchi, the creator of Gran Turismo
Several other GT Academy students are played by actors from around the world, and Geri Halliwell-Horner plays Jann's mother, Lesley. Djimon Hounsou plays Steve, a former footballer turned miner.
Pepe Barroso's Antonio Cruz is one of Jann's friends, and he later shares the Le Mans car with him. The GT Academy cast also includes Emelia Hartford, Sang Heon Lee and Harki Bhambra as candidates in the competition.
Who made Gran Turismo?
The project was first announced in July 2013, with Michael De Luca and Dana Brunetti as producers. Joseph Kosinski was set to direct in 2015 from a new screenplay by Jon and Erich Hoeber, but that version was no longer moving forward by 2018.
In May 2022 the project was announced again, and Neill Blomkamp was attached to direct in June. The main cast was announced in September 2022, and Sony set a release date of August 11, 2023. In December 2022 Max Mundt, Mariano Gonzalez and Lindsay Pattison joined the cast. The film was produced by Columbia Pictures, PlayStation Productions and 2.0 Entertainment.
Filming began in Hungary in November 2022 and wrapped in December. Jacques Jouffret served as cinematographer, and he used the Rialto extension system of Sony Venice 2 cameras to place sensors in tight spaces away from the main camera body.
How was the racing filmed and scored?
Mardenborough is also a co-producer, and he doubled Madekwe in the driving scenes.
Lorne Balfe took over the score from Stephen Barton on April 24, 2023, and the soundtrack album, which Andrew Kawczynski also composed for, was released on August 11, 2023.
Audrey, played by Maeve Courtier-Lilley, is Jann's love interest, and their relationship deepens when he uses his contract bonus to bring her to Tokyo.
How did the Le Mans storyline come together?
Danny brings Matty and the academy's Antonio Cruz into the Le Mans effort. On race day, Jann's father says sorry for doubting him. After Frederik Schulin's crash has unsettled the field, Jack's training music gives Jann his drive back.
Antonio is brought in early because of cramps, and a dropped wheel nut during a pit stop costs Jann positions. Using racing lines he learned from the video game, Jann regains his place and breaks the lap record. On the final lap he narrowly beats Capa to take third place and a podium finish for Nissan.
The epilogue shows the real Jann Mardenborough, who has since competed in over 200 races.
Why was the crash storyline criticised?
The film was widely criticised for using Mardenborough's crash at the Nurburgring Nordschleife as a narrative element. The segment re-enacts a March 2015 crash in which his Nissan GT-R Nismo left the ground at the Flugplatz turn and went over the barrier into the crowd. One spectator died at once, and several more were hurt.
The film combines two real Le Mans races into one event. Jann's LMP2 debut, in a Zytek Z11SN-Nissan for Greaves Motorsport, took place about two years before the crash, and the team finished third, as the film depicts. His LMP1 debut in a GT-R LM Nismo for Nissan Motorsports came roughly three months after the crash, and that car failed during the race.
Critics called the use of a dead spectator to enhance the plot tasteless and reprehensible. Mardenborough defended the inclusion, saying the crash needed to be depicted correctly because someone lost their life in it.
How did the film perform at the box office?
Gran Turismo took $44.4 million in North America and $77.7 million abroad, a worldwide figure of $122.1 million. The film was projected to open to $12-15 million from 3,856 theaters, and it made $8.5 million on its first day.
| Measure | Figure |
|---|---|
| Production budget | $60 million |
| Worldwide gross | $122.1 million |
| United States and Canada | $44.4 million |
| Other territories | $77.7 million |
| Opening weekend | $17.4 million, first place |
| Second weekend | $6.6 million, down 64%, fourth place |
| Third weekend | $3.5 million |
The film opened to $17.4 million, above the top of its projected $12-15 million range, and finished first, although Warner Bros. claimed that its holdover Barbie had actually won the weekend with $15.1 million. The dispute centred on Sony's inclusion of $5.3 million from preview screenings in the opening-day figures. Other studios and trade publications sided with Sony, noting that folding previews into opening day is standard practice.
The second weekend fell 64% to $6.6 million, and the film finished fourth. Its third weekend brought in $3.5 million, and the digital release followed on September 26, 2023, with Blu-ray and DVD on November 7.
The release itself was complicated. A SAG-AFTRA strike led to the wide release being moved from August 11, 2023, while the date stayed unchanged in markets such as the United Kingdom, where the film opened on August 9, 2023.
How did critics respond?
The film received mixed reviews. Rotten Tomatoes recorded 65% positive reviews from 225 critics, with an average rating of 6.1/10, and Metacritic gave it 48 out of 100 from 47 critics. CinemaScore audiences awarded it an A, and PostTrak polls gave it 90% overall positive.
Most critics praised the racing sequences and Blomkamp's direction, especially the climactic 24-hour race in France. Owen Gleiberman of Variety said the film felt like a Fast and Furious movie made without cynicism, and Kristen Lopez of TheWrap praised it for leaving its video game origins behind quickly.
Negative reviews were sharper. Ryan Gilbey in the Guardian described the film as a simulation of cinema, Tim Robey in the Telegraph called it a complacent insult to a great video game, and Oli Welsh of Polygon argued that it used a true story only to score points. The film was nominated for Best Adaptation at The Game Awards 2023.
