As we noted recently, we live in a video game adaptation world with a billion dollars film attached to it. The Super Mario Bros Movie has done so well in less than a month that it boggles the mind and puts pressure on all other video game adaptations to try and measure up. That won’t be an easy task as it’s not easy to get a billion at the box office, even if you’re an established brand like Marvel or DC Comics. But one movie that could surprise people is Gran Turismo, which dropped its first trailer today.
There have been other racing game adaptations in the past, so what makes Gran Turismo so different? The answer to that is the backstory for the film. No, we don’t mean the film’s plot. Instead, we mean that the movie won’t just be a simple racing movie but one based on the true story of Jann Mardeborough. Who is he? He was one of the best video gamers at this particular title, and then he got drafted to be in the GT Academy. If he made it through the academy, he would get the chance to race in the actual thing. So that’s exactly what he did.
He’s still racing to this day and has both won races, set records at certain events, and has participated in some of the most legendary events racing has to offer. That means this film has something that many video game adaptations don’t have: credibility in the real world.
As the trailer below notes, it’s almost insane to think that someone in the video game space could jump into the real world and do the task they were playing. But that’s where the academy comes in, as the gamers have to learn how to adapt to what it’s really like in a race car, such as how hot it is in there or the forces that are put on the driver’s body as they hit the big turns at high speeds.
Also, there are the other racers, who, both in the trailer and in the real world, weren’t likely happy to find out that a video gamer was taking a spot from a real driver on the course.
The movie looks to have a lot of high-octane racing action mixed with a good story. While it likely won’t reach the box office of a certain other movie, that doesn’t mean it can’t be a hit when it arrives in August.
